4 Tips For Giving Great Customer Service

Are you giving your customers a level of service that keeps them coming back?

While it’s true that a convincing salesperson can sell anything to anyone once, good customer service is what determines whether you will be able to sell that person anything else in the future.

Before we dive into our tips for great customer service, let’s define what good service is in the first place. A global survey of consumers and business buyers defines good customer service as:

Service that’s efficient, “always on” and happening in real time
Service that gives the customer a sense of connectedness with the brand and business
Service that is personalized to the customer
Service that offers a resolution before an issue even occurs

Let’s take a look at how your business can create customers for life—ones who are going to be vocal advocates of your brand and will refer your business to friends and family.

Be Everywhere

Which is to say, businesses are expected to be available anytime and anywhere (multichannel or omnichannel). Millennials and Gen Z are the most omnichannel and digitally-savvy of generations, with more than 68% of them preferring digital, always-on channels over traditional ones. That’s live support, mobile app, online self-service, messenger apps like WhatsApp, social media, forums, and voice assistance.

40% of customers won’t do business with a company if they can’t use their preferred channels.

We live in a time of constant connectivity. Which means good customer service is service that’s everywhere and always on. In the near future, channels with the biggest growth will include mobile chat and video support. And the use of voice-activated assistants like Siri or Alexa in customer service will see a 152% growth.

The saying, “the customer is always right” might have to be updated to: “The customer is always on.” Making sure that your business is ready to interact with customers where they are and in real time enables customers to find a quick path to resolution and satisfaction.

Treat the Customer with Respect and Like an Individual

Something that will never change when it comes to customer service is how a customer wants to feel: respected. Taking care of your customers, advising them towards a resolution, responding with efficiency, and treating them with dignity should always be a priority. And the great news is it doesn’t cost anything.

But personalizing customer engagement requires more focused efforts.

A study revealed that 66% of consumers say they’re likely to switch brands if they feel they’re treated like a number rather than an individual. So if customer loyalty and retention are part of your customer service team’s success metrics, your business needs to prioritize connecting with and personalizing customer service touchpoints.

Businesses who will thrive in this new era of multichannel, always-on customer service will spend time and resources on understanding their customers’ nuanced needs and adapting to their behaviors.

Empower the Customer

45% of customers will abandon an online transaction if they cannot easily find an answer to their question.

Reduce your abandoned cart percentages by empowering the customer with self-help tools and placing resources and support in front of the customer, when they expect it.

This might look like:

Update your FAQ page and make it as clear as possible, making sure to surface information that the customer may find useful.
Provide more self-service tools, like account portals and help forums that let customers find immediate answers on their own time.
Use live chat on your site or app.
Provide 24/7 toll-free numbers.

If your customer feels like they can’t get answers to their questions, then they are primed for abandoning their shopping cart. The likelihood of getting them to convert at that point? It goes down significantly. In an age of constant connectivity, customers see real-time messaging and self-service capabilities as quick paths to a resolution.

Build Trust

What encourages your customers to return for a second or third purchase? A product, promo or service may win their business initially, but converting them into loyal customers means coupling a seamless customer experience with brand trust.

When consumers trust your brand, they’re much more likely to become a paying customer, and best case scenario, a loyal customer that then spreads the word to their friends and family. Trust is the factor that helps leads become sales and customers become advocates, and has become the new currency of brand loyalty.

Millennials value a brand’s trustworthiness the most, second only to loyalty discounts in importance when deciding between companies to shop from. These shoppers will switch brands if they sense that your business isn’t trustworthy or communicating to them in a way that feels authentic and genuine.

But how exactly do you build customer trust? Start with the following:

Lift the brand veil.
Help your customers feel more connected to your business by letting them know more about your founding principles.
Be authentic.
Show interest in hearing their feedback so you can better your products and content to reflect their preferences.
Be transparent about your processes.
Own up to mistakes and say you’ll do better—and then act on your promise.
Share testimonials.
It’s no secret that some of your best salespeople are actually your existing customers. Testimonials reassure hesitant, would-be customers that other people who have used your product like it. And would use it again.

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