Customer service in 5 steps

Did you know that acquiring a new customer can be up to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one¹? Unfortunately, many companies cannot boast high-quality customer service, which results in avoidable losses. Therefore, familiarize yourself with these 5 customer service tips and minimize the risk of losing customers.

1. Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions are extremely important elements of a website because consumers often check them before using a company's product or service⁰. If you don't have them or they are complicated, customers will surely choose the competition. So what criteria should the terms and conditions meet? First and foremost, they must be written in clear language. The terms and conditions should include, among other things, the seller's information, information about the products or services being sold, payment methods, delivery costs, as well as information about making complaints, exchanging goods, or returning them. Buyers most often look for the latter point. As research shows, 67% of consumers familiarize themselves with the return policy before making a purchase².

2. Customer Service Quality - Quick Response

The quality of customer service is largely determined by the speed of resolving customer issues. So don't let the customer wait for your response. To achieve this, consider implementing a live chat that will speed up contact and reduce customer service costs. Many call center outsourcing companies also emphasize quick response as their core advantage, as it helps businesses handle high volumes of inquiries without sacrificing quality. Unfortunately, dissatisfied customers often choose to publicly share their experiences with a company because they were transferred from one consultant to another, wasting time and nerves. A quick and appropriate response, as well as problem resolution, can make the customer return to your company. Customers know that there are people on the other side who sometimes make mistakes. However, it is important to learn from them and make changes to the entire customer service operation to minimize troublesome situations.

3. Customer Contact - Personalization

Personalizing communication with the customer positively affects the level of customer service. This tip is about paying attention to the customer's needs regardless of the situation. Therefore, when a customer privately or publicly complains about your company, don't send them a template response, but address that specific situation. Personalization is not just about using a person's name or nickname. It is primarily about listening to the customer's problems and expectations. Show buyers that you care about resolving the situation, as this can rebuild the trust that has been damaged due to certain factors.

4. Magic Words: Sorry, Please, Thank You

However, the level of customer service is influenced not only by quick response and message personalization. Also, make sure that words like sorry, please, and thank you appear in your communication with customers. Every time an unhappy customer contacts you, apologize for the situation. Even if the fault is not entirely yours, it is worth trying to defuse the situation and show that you are striving for understanding right from the start. Sometimes you will also need the word please, especially when resolving a problem requires the customer's patience. It is also worth thanking customers for expressing their opinions, both satisfied and dissatisfied. This will show them that you value their feedback because you are constantly striving to improve your offer and customer experiences.

5. Customer Service Tools

Good customer service does not end with phone calls and emails to the customer service department. In everyday contact with buyers, it is worth using the aforementioned live chat. Chatbots are also an interesting solution, such as BOTWISE.io, which unlike other chatbots, does not require time-consuming scenario design and predicting user reactions. Artificial intelligence analyzes documents and files added to the application and matches their fragments to the content of the questions asked, which significantly automates response time.

Your brand should also be present on social media, review portals, and anywhere opinions about it may appear. Brand24 can help you monitor brand mentions. Also, make sure to collect feedback from customers. To do this, send them invitations to leave reviews. However, remember to respond to them. You can also send discount codes that will further encourage customers to share their comments about your company. Rating Captain will help you gather reviews and analyze them for any obstacles on the customer journey.

Summary

Professional customer service should be one of the fundamental elements of every company's strategy. It is through high-quality service that a brand gains customer trust and gets to know their needs by building relationships with them. The customer service process consists of several elements, and the best results can be achieved by constantly improving each of them.

Sources:

¹ https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers

² https://www.invespcro.com/blog/ecommerce-product-return-rate-statistics/