Emotion influence purchase decision six times more than rational. This is why customer service is important. Many consumers will pay a higher price just to receive great customer service. To deliver it, you need to focus on various aspects of your business.
Frontline staff.
Every employee who gets in touch with your customers should understand the importance of making good impression. It does not matter if it is a frontline associate or an employee who is not supposed to contact customers, they must be friendly, polite and supportive every time they negotiate with customers.
Make sure that your employees are knowledgeable and well-trained, and they support company’s values. Loyal employees have better chances to win loyal customers.
Contact points.
A contact point is the method a customer uses to communicate with a company. For online business the most popular points of contact are a company’s website, live chat support systems, telephone and email.
A company’s website should be convenient for self-service. Customers should be able to easily find required products, get full product description and understand a purchase process, as well as return policy. Website usability is the most important aspect of online sales.
Phone support, live chat support and email support involve communication with companies’ representatives. There are some general rules of great customer service for these contact points.
- Time of pick-up and replies. Everyone hates 5-minute wait on hold, long queues in chat and unanswered emails. It is polite to pick up the phone and chat on the third ring, and reply to emails within one day. The shorter time that takes you to reply to the customer’s email, the more pleased your customer will be. The WOW-time is five to thirty minutes.
- The right person to contact. Make sure that your customers are able to contact the right person on the first try, or at least on the second. The more times customers get transferred to another person, the more your chances are to lose them.
- Solve the issue on the first contact. Timely support allows to make more sales prevent customers from leaving.
Feedback.
Allow customers to leave their feedback. Listen to what they say to you during your sessions via live chat support systems and act accordingly. Successfully utilizing customer feedback is a must for any business looking to deliver great customer service.
