If you have ever figuratively thrown your hands in the air and said, “That’s it — I’m never spending my money at this company again...my orders are always wrong, and the staff is so rude!”, you are far from alone.
According to strategist Esteban Kolsky, more than two-thirds of consumers say a poor customer service experience was the reason they switched to another service provider. Large enterprises may offer a huge selection of products and services at fair prices, but if their customers have a less-than-satisfactory experience, many will say “sayonara” and go with another company.
In order for your enterprise to avoid this scenario like the plague and offer the best possible customer service at all times, which, in turn, should help to improve brand loyalty as well as workplace performance, consider implementing the following tips.
1. Know What Your Company is Selling
If you've ever called a business with a question about one of their products and received a less-than-stellar and knowledgeable response, you know first-hand how frustrating that can be. To ensure this doesn't happen under your watch, make sure every customer service rep is fully trained and highly knowledgeable about your product and service line. If there are certain questions that pop up all of the time, create a FAQ guide for your team that provides a clear and consistent way to answer these inquiries.
2. Communicate Through More than One Channel
While customers can still call and email your company with questions, to place an order and inquire about their account status, they likely also want to communicate using the same channels, like texting and social media, that they use with their friends.
To really up your customer service ante in 2019, large businesses like yours should be able to offer communication practices through more than one channel. One way to effectively employ this omnichannel approach is through a call center in the cloud.
For example, Aspect makes this possible for large enterprises through its hosted software, which features flexible adoption of innovative multichannel interaction management. Besides that, Aspect’s cloud-based options can easily handle inbound, outbound and blended interactions with little to no difficulty — all of which will add up to happier customers.
3. Don’t Make Excuses
If a customer calls in with a valid complaint, don't allow your customer service team to make excuses. Don’t blame it on the vendor who was running late, another employee, or, worst yet, the customer themselves. If your company goofed, admit the mistake and train your team to apologize and promise to make the situation right. A customer who has encountered a problem is likely feeling upset and/or mad, and the best way to turn these situations around is with a sincere apology and a promise to make things right.
4. Give Your Team Ample Time to Solve an Issue
Large companies receive a high volume of calls and emails from customers. To get to as many people as possible, some corporations have set limits as to how long their customer service team should be on one call.
Rather than being helpful, this approach can often leave customers feeling rushed and not like tr issue or complaint is being handled to their level of satisfaction. Instead, large companies should emulate a business like Zappos, a popular shoe and clothing company that does not require its customer service team to keep their calls under a certain amount of time.
The priority at Zappos is to create emotional connections with their customers, and this emphasis on customer care is part of the company's values and has undoubtedly contributed to their enormous success and growth.
2019 Will be Your Best Year Yet
By implementing these four tips, you should be rewarded with loyal customers who are happy to return over and over with their business. Encourage and empower your CSR team with proper training, make customer care part of your core values, and consider a call center in the cloud and its omnichannel possibilities; your customers will definitely notice and appreciate the difference.