Ever had a bad customer service experience that made you stop using a product? Or a good one that made you think that the service provider does care about the customer? Did you leave a review that would encourage or discourage other users from shopping or using the service? Well, that’s how customer service goes.
If you have a business, you can give a good or a bad impression of how you communicate with your customer. If you offer good services, but can’t communicate with your customers, answer their inquiries, or solve their problems, you’re not likely to go far. That’s why we made a list of effective tips for better communication with your customer.
Be Available on Different Platforms
There are several means of communicating today. You can connect with someone through phone, SMS, social media, and chat. You can take advantage of the wide variety to make sure your product or service is seen and heard. Some people prefer talking to real people and so, phone calls might be their first choice. SMS marketing is guaranteed to have a great reach since SMSs are going to be opened 98% of the time. The developers at https://messente.com/, state that your SMS campaign doesn’t have to be promotional only, it can be personalized and useful too. There are many SMS API that can help you get started with SMS marketing.
Everyone uses social media and it’s essential, regardless of the type of service you provide, to have an online social media presence. You can engage online with your customers on Twitter and Facebook, and you can answer their questions and solve their problems at the Facebook messenger. Another way is to have a chat option on your website, which will make your business even more reachable.
Related: What is a Chatbox? Methods to Increase Conversion on the Site Using Live Chats
Have a Good Customer Service System
To achieve availability, you need a good system for service support. It’s important to provide the best tools for your employees to help them serve the customers better. The person who will answer the phone calls and chat inquiries needs to be professional in handling the customers. The customers shouldn’t feel a difference between one customer support agent or another, they all need to be on the same level. A customer support representative (CSR) should be:
Patient
You don’t know the backstory of the customer calling or chatting, they may have been wronged or they have been having a hard time. If they’re angry or frustrated, A CSR should be patient in trying to figure out the problem and the solution.
Attentive
Nothing is more annoying than having to repeat yourself, it makes you feel like the person on the line isn’t really listening and doesn’t care. A CSR must be an active listener. Interrupting is another thing they must avoid. Anyone would be annoyed when they get interrupted. Even if they’re repeating themselves, listen again and then offer a solution.
Positive
Using positive affirmations leaves your customer less frustrated. A CSR should avoid using phrases like “I don’t know.” or “I can’t help you.” and use more affirmative words like “I will check and get back to you.” and other words of assurance.
Empathetic
Showing empathy is the most important thing about customer support. The CSR should make the customer feel like they sincerely care about them and they will do their best to solve their inquiries.
Related: 7 Amazing Communication Tools You Can Use With Clients
Use Social Media to Engage
Using Facebook and Twitter isn’t only helpful to answer questions and solve issues. You can use your online presence to communicate with your target customers. You can make surveys asking for feedback on your service, to improve it. You can grant giveaways by making the customers answer some questions. It will create engagement and will be an opportunity for more people to try your product or service. Use Facebook to write information about the products and make announcements.
If you plan on using social media, you must have a good strategy to handle angry customers’ public complaints and inquiries. A customer communicating with a business will expect to find professionalism, patience, empathy, and get full attention. If they find what they’re looking for, you will be gaining a valuable customer who will tell their friends and everyone on social media, about the excellent service. If their request, complaint, or inquiry is handled badly, you will lose the customer and potentially other customers besides having to deal with a bad reputation. It’s never too late to turn it around and fix your image. All you need to do is start having better communication with your customers.
