Customer service can make or break a business. A study by Zendesk has shown that 81% of consumers are more likely to use a business’s products and services again if the company has stellar customer service. They may even recommend the services to others, such as friends and family. Additionally, a Forbes article has shown that 97% of customers say their loyalty to a brand will be determined by how well a business conducts its customer service.
On the other hand, if your business’s customer service is bad, you can expect terrible reviews. Research by Calabrio has shown that 60% of consumers will switch brands due to poor customer service. As such, it’s vital that your business offers exceptional customer service to retain customer loyalty and attract new customers at the same time.
Luckily enough, there are a number of ways to improve customer service online. In this article, we dive into five different strategies that can help improve your business’s customer service.
How to Improve Your Customer Service
1. Pay attention to customer feedback
One way to improve customer service is to pay attention to customer feedback. Feedback is an essential asset in every business. It tells you whether customers are happy with your offerings or think you can improve your brand.
One way your business can get feedback is to ask for it. You can do this through surveys, polls, or even simple comments and reviews. These methods can help you collect feedback that will enable you to see which aspects of your business should remain the same and which ones need improvement. By showing that you're listening to what they say, you'll improve your business's customer service reputation in no time.
Investigating complaints and criticisms is another method to improve customer service online. Remember, complaints and criticisms are another form of feedback. By looking into them, you can identify the patterns that result in poor customer service. Once these patterns are identified, you and your team can formulate plans to improve your customer service.
If the feedback is given online, you should also take the time to answer it. There are many benefits to doing this. You can increase your business’s search engine ranking, enhance your visibility, or encourage customers to do business with you again. Answering feedback can even encourage prospective clients to proceed with using your services.
According to Khoros’ findings, 83% of customers become more loyal to a business when the business resolves their complaints or responds to their comments, whether negative or positive. This is because responses from the brand make them feel more valued and listened to. As such, don’t hesitate to double customer satisfaction by responding to every piece of feedback that your business receives.
2. Improve and Invest in Your Team
In today’s digital landscape, where reviews on social media can affect a business, companies are always wondering how to improve customer service online. Training and investing in their teams is another method that can help companies improve their customer service.
To improve your customer support team, you first need to hire people who can deal with all kinds of customers. Once your team is adequately trained, they’re now equipped to face challenges such as irate customers. They can even adjust how they service clients depending on the customer, which can significantly increase your business’s reputation for customer service.
Investing in their training is another way to improve your customer service team. Training your team keeps them well-informed about the business’s services. You can also emphasize the importance of positive client relations and improve their client service skills simultaneously. In doing so, your business's handling of customer service will be refined and enhanced significantly.
Finally, you can also invest in your team by monitoring their performance and rewarding them accordingly. These rewards can go beyond an annual raise. They can include small “Thank you” gifts, an outstanding recognition award, or even additional time off.
Remember, acknowledging your team’s efforts will motivate them to deliver exceptional customer service, making your business renowned for its outstanding conduct.
3. Create a Memorable Experience for Your Customers
If you’re looking for ways to improve your business’s customer service, consider creating a memorable experience for your customers. One way you can do this is by personalizing your messages to them. For instance, you can address a customer by name or leave a personalized thank-you note to those who do business with you.
According to an Evergage study, 96% of marketers say that such personalizations significantly improve a business’s customer relationship. Another study from smile.io says that 60% of companies lose customers because they are too indifferent to them. By including these little touches in how you address or thank your customers, you immediately stand out. As a result, customers become more than likely to return to avail of what you’re offering, increasing your sales in the process.
Finally, starting a loyalty program can also create a memorable customer experience. Customers love being valued by a business or rewarded for their patronage. With loyalty programs, you can accomplish that by giving returning customers discounts on their purchases or freebies, further enhancing their experience.
4. Scope out the Competition
Scoping the competition lets you and your staff see what customer service your competitors offer. With this, you can see any offerings or practices that they do differently from your business.
By gaining insights from your business rivals, you can identify which of their practices you can apply to your own company. This can help you improve your current customer service standards. In addition, consider refining your practices to make you stand out from them even more.
5. Be quick in providing support
When looking for ways on how to improve customer service online, consider offering quick customer support. According to a study by Forrester, 53% of customers are likely to forgo using your products and services if their questions aren’t answered immediately or if they don’t receive quick support. Offering immediate customer support shows your customers that you value their time. In addition, you also distinguish your business from others by providing support in a timely manner.
One viable quick support method you can consider is adding a live video chat widget to your website. With video chat support, customers can contact you with their questions, and your staff can provide them with in-depth assistance.
Apart from that, if you have the personnel, you can also go the extra mile and offer 24/7 customer support. This can be a great advantage to your business as stellar customer support will draw the attention of prospective clients and current customers.
If you plan to add live video chat support to your business’s website, be sure to turn to pagealive. Pagealive enables you to provide real-time, personalized support and engagement to your website visitors through a live video chat widget on your website homepage. Learn more about pagealive or request a demo of their services today!
