We live in a world where everything you’re trying to sell to someone else is already selling. If you look hard enough you’ll find an individual or business that may even be selling it for cheaper with a faster delivery time.
So, how do you make your business stand out from the rest? Fortunately, the answer is very simple—excellent customer service. Two top ways of doing this are by opting to increase staff training and to make your team more visible by using resources like embroidery services Sydney employers count on for uniforms. Engaging better with your audience may be easier than you thought.
Customer Service—The Real Difference
Anyone in business will tell you, keeping customers happy is no easy task. Business is not just about providing a quality product. The accompanying customer experience will be the determining factor of whether a customer returns for repeat business.
Whether you have a new startup or an existing small business, you can always benefit from a customer service boost. To help you improve your customer service in 2023, we’ve compiled a list of tried and tested ways to improve the customer experience associated with your business.
1. Employees Should be Visible
Ever been to a store and needed assistance only to find that you can’t tell the staff from customers? It doesn’t create a very good first impression. So, if you have a traditional brick-and-mortar store your staff needs to be visible.
No matter how few (or how many) employees you have, an effective method is to invest in some quality shirts. With an embroidered logo polo shirts can communicate professionalism while showing your customers who they can ask for advice. Making your staff presence known means customers will feel comfortable asking for assistance.
2. Product Knowledge is Key
All your employees should be fully aware of all the products and services available. This will ensure that anyone can efficiently assist customers with any type of query. Being able to provide customers with quick and accurate information will ensure customers don’t get annoyed early on during the interaction.
3. Solve the Customers’ Needs
Whether you’re dealing with a first-time sale or product service query on a finalised purchase, it’s important to solve your customer’s needs as early as possible. Take ownership of the problem and see it through to the end. Don’t resort to passing the query off to another department, because it reflects bad on everyone.
4. Constant Communication
One of the biggest letdowns in any customer-related business is the lack of proper communication. If you have promised to provide a customer with feedback on a certain day regarding the progress of their query, it’s important to stick to this arrangement. Be honest with customers about any delays to avoid potential conflict.
5. Always Listen to the Customer
Part of customer annoyance stems from no one being interested in what they have to say. Many employees listen with the intention to simply respond and defend, rather than listen to hear the actual problem and then fix it.
That said, each customer conversation should be approached with the intention of learning more about the problem. Ask as many clarifying questions as needed to understand the customer’s query and then summarise what the customer has told you to ensure you understood correctly. Then, provide the customer with a preliminary plan of action.
6. Invest in Relevant Tools
In many businesses, the customer service process has become mostly digitised. Face-to-face complaints have been replaced with live chats, email and help desk interactions. For your customers and staff to utilise these platforms you need to ensure that you add the right service tools to your website and social media profiles, such as:
- Templates
- Customer service software
- Streamlined workflow processes
Be sure to provide the relevant training to all staff working with these tools and do a routine test run to ensure that all processes are working effectively. Keep in mind that customer satisfaction will decline if response times lag or if queries aren’t addressed timeously.
7. Always be Friendly and Professional
While this tip is more of a prerequisite for working with customers before or after their query, it’s important to reiterate the value of friendliness. In many industries, customer service departments work remotely and never see a customer face to face. Therefore, there is no longer that personal connection that enables a customer to feel understood and respected. So, apply as much friendliness and professionalism as possible, to boost the brand reputation and customer loyalty.
Final Thought
The way you run your business may be changing to adapt to a more digitally-focused world, but at the end of the day, you still rely on your customers to grow your revenues. It’s important to ensure that all staff and system processes are designed with the understanding of how much you value your clients.
Any part of your business that interacts with a customer in any way should always do it in the most skilled and professional manner. Improving your customer service will ensure that your business gets more repeat business!
