How to improve your customer service

Customer service is one of the most important parts of a successful business.  If you want to provide an excellent customer service, you can look at how BPOs in the Philippines handle every customer concern. They make sure to establish business-customer relationship by providing excellent customer experience. Not only does good customer service improve your customer retention rate, but it also acts as a free advertisement to prospective customers. If you impress a customer they are more likely to tell others about your business and even write a favorable review for your business. Here’s how to improve your customer service. 

Nail first impressions

First impressions count. Especially when it comes to customer service. If you get the first impression wrong, you will have a mountain to climb trying to get the customer back on your side. From the first interaction with the customer, it’s important to show concern, respond quickly, and try to fix the problem they’re facing. Teach your customer service team (if you have one) that even though the customer isn’t always right, they should be made to feel special. 

Don’t hide behind email

These days, a lot of businesses try to hide behind email and messenger apps. This is a good way of answering customer queries en masse. But nothing beats answering the phone. If a customer talks to someone and feels valued, they are much more likely to invest in your brand. That’s not to say you can’t use email and messenger apps, just don’t rely on them solely. 

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes

Empathy is important if you want to nail customer service. Generally, customers will be getting in touch because they’re not happy with the product/service or they don’t understand it. Try and see the issue from their point of view. They don’t have any emotional investment in your brand (yet), so you need to see every problem as a valid one. 

Develop a thick skin

One of the commonest mistakes that business owners make (in customer service) is getting offended by bad reviews and questions. Instead of trying to help the customer, they will go on a tirade against them. This is bad news, for everyone involved. You need a very thick skin when dealing with customers, otherwise, you could end up doing irreparable harm to your brand. 

Be proactive

You shouldn’t wait for customers to have a problem before helping them out. Proactive customer service is a great way to improve your product/service as a whole. This includes offering a dedicated phone line for customer queries, creating a detailed FAQ section, and outsourcing a callback service. Make it easy for customers to interact with your business. 

Answer every question

There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Just because you know your product/service inside out, it doesn’t mean a customer will. You should take care to answer every customer question with a detailed answer. Also, create resources (like blog posts) that answer questions about your product/service. This will help reduce the number of calls. 

Go the extra mile

Great customer service is about going the extra mile for your customers. Whether that means sending them a free sample product, spending an hour on the phone with them, or giving them a refund when you make a mistake. Overdeliver on their expectations and they will respond by writing amazing reviews and telling their friends about your business.