By textbook definition, customer service is the action of providing advice and assistance to any person that has purchased the services or products of our company.
Customer service must be one of the businesses top priorities. It is necessary to make the client feel taken care of and respected. We need these satisfied customers to promote sales as a domino effect and engage in a long term relationship as satisfied customers stay longer with the brand.
The task of providing this level of customer service to consumers can take some extra time, money and resources. You will have to invest time in the hiring and training process and money on new jobs and the right equipment to provide a fast, high quality service
But now more than ever it is vital to get your customer service right, this will improve your reputation constantly among your customers and will help you stand out from the competition to increase your new customer base.
An important thing to address is the value of your current, actual customers. It is many times more expensive to get a new customer than to retain an existing one so if you are into lowering costs, this is a must!
So, proper attention to providing good customer experience can give your company a head start on increasing sales, customer loyalty and a positive overview for new customers.
Increasing Sales
Customer service is responsible for making our customers satisfied with our company’s product or services before making a purchase; during, such as when they have questions; or after, when an inconvenience takes place. If the queries are solved properly, the customer is more likely to purchase from our company again. Simple right? Now imagine the mood of a frustrated customer who made a purchase and notices we don’t pay attention to them.
This is why customer service is related directly with the possible increase in sales, happy customers shop more.
Customer Loyalty
When a company gives you direct lines of communication, providing high quality customer service, the customer queries are easily solved and the customer will be satisfied not only with the product or service, but with the company in general. A loyal customer will become an advocate when they are excited about their experience, and may even create a positive buzz about you through word of mouth, reviews and Social Networks.
New Customers
When something is good, people know it and they recommend it. So if your actual customers are satisfied they will bring to the company new customers. When a company has a positive influence on their customers, it expands its limits and increases the bottom line.
To achieve a high quality level of customer service it is necessary to focus on the customers and take some action, whatever their issue may be.
What do your customers need?
It is important to understand your market and customers to provide good customer service.
Having different ways for your customers to contact you is one of the most important things, as they will never be satisfied if they can get to you. So creating easy access to information about your company for customers is key.
Having an online Q&A page can help your customer without having the need to get in touch with an agent, you can set up an online chat and have an active social media.
Nowadays, technology has provided us with more than one way to communicate, so this needs to be used as an advantage for our company.
Make them feel respected
When you take more time than expected to give a response, when a message or call is not answered, when queries are left unsolved, you are not giving your clients the respect they deserve. Our customers need to be rewarded with good attention and service, especially for the fact that they have already purchased our services or products.
So giving the attention they need, when they need it, solving queries properly and giving them options to reach you will directly improve satisfaction levels, even if there has been a mishap.
Exceed Expectations
When it comes to customer service the more you give the more you get. If your customers are well taken care of they will buy more and they will refer your products and services to new possible customers.
Imagine if we exceed their expectations of what they can give back. This is one more reason to focus on creating a well-developed customer service department in-house or outsourced onshore, nearshore or offshore, whatever can provide your customers the experience they deserve.
Go Beyond
When we say go the extra mile we mean take your time to go to your customer before he needs to get to you. Having an after purchase service for your customers can help you have a direct evaluation about their satisfaction level with the product or service purchased and will give them the opportunity to make any query necessary which will make the whole experience smooth.
Providing this kind of customer service, paying attention to the details, will develop long lasting relations with our company. Be aware of their needs, make yourself available, take care of their queries and solve the problems gracefully to achieve a high quality customer service that your company needs to grow.
