Having a business is one thing and running it successfully is another. As we keep taking various steps to ensure our trade thrives and prospers, there comes a time when your business is very large and your customer base vast. This is the time when one should start thinking about setting up a team dedicated to customer support. This team will collect leads for you, engage with prospects, make/receive calls, solve customer issues and keep them happy, all without you needing to micromanage everything.
While setting up your customer service team, one must remain smart; because very good service brings a good reputation and bad service brings very bad reputation. It takes just one mistake for clients/customers to turn their back on you. Keep these things in mind when setting up customer support for your business for a good time:
1.Your Team Ought to be Good at Listening
One of the key tricks in the art of keeping customers happy is the ability to listen. A lot of times, customers just want someone to hear them out and then they’ll do as you ask them of as the best solution. An angry customer will get calm within a minute or two of venting out. Your customer support team may have to face that too, and to be able to listen to that is a very important aspect of service. At times, the caller may even not know what they want. Listening to them completely becomes necessary in such cases if they are to be offered what they like.
2. Usage of Positive Language is Advisable
Keeping the language as positive as possible is necessary to make a lasting impression on the mind. Your team represents you and your business. Any form of negativity will only hamper your relations. Even when trying to resolve a grievance, your folks must speak positively. E.g. let us suppose you own a big electronics store and one of the TVs purchased by a customer broke down within a week. The frustrated customer calls your store up and asks for a replacement. Your executive says, “Sorry, sir.”
This is tantamount to admitting you gave them a bad product. “Sorry” is one of the most commonly used negative words on the planet. Your executive could instead say, “Let’s get this fixed” or, “Let me solve this problem for you”.
Clearly, the latter choice of words would have a more positive effect on the customer’s attitude.
3. Clear Communication is a Must
All communication going out from your end must be clear at all times. Inadequate information, half-made promises and lack of clarity creates hurdles and eventually damage your relationship with customers. Be it emails, calls or messages, all outbound communication must always adhere to a set standard. A good team understands this and makes sure no stones are left unturned.
4. Take Feedback As Much As Possible
Always ask your customers for feedback on the quality of the interaction. Be it resolving problems, giving out info, handling queries or closing a new deal, every type of conversation needs feedback. It is important to know how your customer’s experience talking to you has been. This helps in understanding them better and make changes to your style to suit everyone the best.
5. Your Resolutions Should be Quick and Effective
Customers adore quick resolutions and fast responses. Every request from the customer must always attract swift and solid action. A problem should be resolved as fast as possible, and responses to inquiries sent out within a day. You can delegate some authority to your team so that they can take care of minor things on their own without having to pass the buck from one desk to another. This will also let you focus on other important things you must do at work.
6.Setup Process(es)
A lot of people have this misconception that customer service only includes a call center where your employees would take and make calls to your customers. In fact, it is only a part of the actual art of customer satisfaction. When setting up the team, give all aspects a thought and set up different processes as required. Have your people ready and trained to respond to queries over SMS, email, even WhatsApp at times. Both verbal and written communication are equally important for effective customer-business relations.
7.Keep Learning and Improving
Of course, as human beings, we are all prone to error. Despite our best efforts, we will get learning experiences from time to time. Your team may struggle to keep a tough customer happy. Your team can take a look at some funny customer service stories, some horrible ones and learn from them slowly. Your team will also accumulate its own bunch of experiences. Implement new processes as and when required and become the best in town.
With the technology and internet capabilities of 2020, offering great customer service is far easier than ever before. One can make the most of mobile technology to stay available for its customers on demand. Serving your customers right and on time is a great virtue, something we all can achieve in today’s era. The new world order shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us what we can do with technology. A good business flourishes when its customers are happy.
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Also read: 15 Classic Ways to Grow Your Email List
