The best tips for great Customer Service in 2021

Yes, you might have a truly great product or a service that brings real value to your customers’ lives. Your marketing and your sales team may be up to the task too, but is this all that it takes to make your business a successful one? That would be a yes if you have not fallen short on one key factor that can make you or…break you.

And if this falls short of expectations, your company will most likely be losing valuable customers, let alone the fact that happy customers are almost certain to be making these, so valuable for the growth of your business, repeat purchases.

As e-commerce is on an exponential rise throughout the pandemic years and brick-and-mortar retail picks up pace.

Υour Customer Service stays at the forefront of your business’ growth, with today’s, digital savvy. Customers expect no less than impeccable, personalized, on-the-spot service.

Having all the right metrics that show you that your customers are content, does not mean that you must ever step optimizing your processes. Making all these little corrections and repositions to your strategy or tactics, could further increase your customer satisfaction

Best tips to have in mind for your Customer Service

So, better safe than sorry! and make sure that you have checked how these Customer Service tips might fit in your business for a great CX in your Customer Service.

It all starts with your team

To build and most importantly, sustain a great Customer Experience, you will first need to have the right team in place. Your Customer Service team is the face of your business, so you must make sure that they are well trained, and passionate about their role. That they share qualities such as patience, empathy, expertise, and communication skills

Be kind and personalize!

When interacting with your customers, employees should be empathetic and pay attention to the customer and their concerns. Stay transparent with a positive attitude and avoid taking things personally or arguing.

Keep also in mind that personalized service can go a long way; use your customers’ names throughout your conversation and when following up, ask when they are available instead of giving them a set time.

Be effective!

Yes, you can be polite, and positive, and engage in a great conversation with your customer. Great start, nevertheless, you should not miss out on the most important quality that is expected from you. That is efficiency. Customers want to resolve their issues quickly and the CS agents should be up to the challenge. Having the right tools to access information on all the crucial touchpoints with the right departments could bring the issue to its resolution

Be proactive!

 Your agents must be insightful and knowledgeable of the business and its pain points, and it is a given that this would require. Some serious market research as well as an assessment of your dealt issue so far.

First-call resolution

This is your king metric. First-call resolution rates measure the number of calls resolved on the first call itself. Find those pain points and train your people to resolve issues on the spot or in a single follow-up email or call.

Self-service

Show your most tech-savvy customers the way to serve themselves with tools such as an IVR system or a knowledgebase with support and troubleshooting content, etc. This way, customers can help themselves and can reach out to your agents only on more complicated issues…

Omni-channel support

A multi-channel support service is no longer an extra value service, rather than what is normally anticipated by your customers. Make sure that you engage with them in as many as possible means.
Like calls, emails, SMS, chat, and many more and, If possible, on a 24/7 basis.

Automate your processes

Another one of the top Customer Service tips this year is to invest some serious efforts in bringing automation to your Customer Support processes. Chatbots and/or IVRs are two ways you can cut down on agent workload, enabling a 24/7 service, and allowing employees to handle more complex issues. These systems should, however, always have the option to connect to a live representative in case the user is unable to resolve their concern.

Check those customer satisfaction scores

 It is important to measure and improve CSAT scores, as they directly impact your business’s customer retention rates, measuring your business’s ability to maintain customer loyalty and long-term relationships with its customers. Collect feedback through all available means about your products, services, or interactions.

Stay human

While automation can make business processes easy and efficient, a struggling caller will end up being frustrated if the automated service does not help resolve their concern. When mapping out your customer support journey, make sure to always have an available option for callers who need to talk with an agent.

Be insightful

Be the first to reach out and check in with repeat customers. Is there anything else you can help with? Follow up on recent purchases to make sure everything went well. Ask for feedback and how the service can be improved. Such interactions will show your customers that their opinions and business are valued.

Listen to your customers

Use surveys either via email or text messages to study how customers are interacting with the products and services you offer. It is important to see things from the customers’ perspectives. And feedback is the best way to do so. Whether it is about a certain product or their recent customer service call, it is important to always look for ways to make your service better.

It’s alright to make mistakes 

It’s only human that once in a while. Mistakes happen, so when they do, take responsibility for them and turn a negative into a positive by making sure you’ve adequately resolved the error in a way that regains your customer’s trust in your company. Just keep in mind that a mistake can well be a great opportunity to provide excellent customer service that may just win over a customer and result in building a thriving relationship with them.

Use the right tools

 Have the right tools to upscale your services. Use your CRM to keep track of customer information, history, interactions, and more, so that you can offer personalized Customer Support. You may also consider investing in call recording software and forwarding tools. Recordings can be used to conduct performance reviews, train new employees, protect against liabilities, reduce errors and misunderstandings, and more. Call forwarding and routing can help distribute calls evenly among employees so that no one employee is over-or underworked.

Train

keep training new and current employees by providing refresher training, past recordings to highlight strengths and weaknesses, webinars, workshops, and more. When training employees, it is important to ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding the goals of the company.

Customer Loyalty programs matter

Customer loyalty programs can help you retain valuable customers and their businesses. These programs are designed to do so by providing rewards to customers who continue to bring your business. Offer deals, promotions, and special offers to members of your loyalty program to retain a steady flow of sales.

Escalate when needed

Agents may find themselves in a situation where different troubleshooting methods or common answers do not suffice. In such cases, they might need the direct assistance of a supervisor or manager. Make sure that you have these channels ready so that you can follow up with these customers as quickly as you can with better solutions or transfer them to someone who can help. Not doing so leads to the client seeking a better service elsewhere.

Stay consistent 

Ensure that your goals, mission, and brand’s voice stay consistent across all different communication channels.

Make valuable content

Keep your website and social media accounts updated by providing relevant and informative content about your services but how customers can benefit from them, such as customer reviews, case studies, and testimonials to see how your product or service ranks with customers.

That’s it then! Make no mistake, there could be some of these tips that may not apply to your type of business, but you can certainly find some that you can adapt and modify to your needs and upscale your Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction!