This is a guest post by friend of Kayako, Alice Clark.
Aside from building an excellent product, companies should also focus on outstanding customer support. Research has shown that around $83 billion is lost by businesses every year just because of poor customer service. This indicates that you cannot afford to neglect this part of business.
It’s ineffective to follow strategies to upgrade customer support while bad customer service is causing you to leak business. This is like pushing money into a savings account while the cost of debt on your credit card is causing you to lose money.
If you want loyalty from your customers, it is important to give the best customer service possible. You must be able to satisfy the wants and needs of your customers. A company must make each individual feel special. One way to do that is to make customer support personal. Here is a 5-step strategy to personalize the way you deal with every customer.
1. Interact with the customer right away, even if you cannot solve the problem yet
Nothing can be more frustrating for a customer than having to wait before they receive help. In fact, most customers refuse to wait more than five minutes for a response. Due to a recent culture shift towards immediate gratification, people are becoming more and more impatient, so it is important to address an issue as soon as you are confronted with it.
It is best if you have the solution right away. If you don’t, go ahead and interact with the customer anyway. Acknowledge his or her complaint. Empathize with how the customer is feeling. The longer you wait before responding to the customer, the more agitated the customer will be. Longer time also means more damage; especially that he can let the world know of his or her frustrations in just a matter of seconds through social media. After facing customers quickly, make sure to find the solution fast.
Empathize with how the customer is feeling. The longer you wait before responding to the customer, the more agitated the customer will be. Longer time also means more damage; especially that he can let the world know of his or her frustrations in just a matter of seconds through social media. After facing customers quickly, make sure to find the solution fast.
2. Talk to your customers like a human
Customers don’t want to feel like they are talking to a machine. Reach out to them in a personal, non-automated manner. There may be times when you need to automate your response but make sure not all parts of the conversation are the same. Customers have different moods, different problems, and different personalities so treat them accordingly.
To make the transaction more personal for each customer, try to equate the solutions to his or her expectations. Listen very well when the customer delivers their issue, and asks questions that will help you get to know the customer better. From the data you have, you can now approach the customer in a more humanly way. Use the name of the customer to make them feel like a person.
3. Clear simple language will resonate with your customer
You never know the depth or technical knowledge your customer has about your product. Try to replicate or match their level of vocabulary, and make the solution as simple as possible to understand.
If you’re running into a few difficult interactions, try to restate what the customer is telling you. This lets the customer know you have understood their request, and that you’re working towards ironing out miscommunication in a specific technical issue, not the problem as a whole.
4. Be honest with what you know you can deliver
Though you want to give the best solution, be careful with over promising what you can deliver. Be realistic, and be truthful with solutions and timeframe.
It can be enough for the customer to know that you are doing everything you can to help them. It’s more important to realize that over-promising something which you cannot really do can lead to more problems. I know you want to make the customer feel like you are willing to go the extra mile to help them, just make sure it is possible.
5. Leave the customer feeling good at the end of the transaction
As much as you want to give the best support for one customer, you also have others to help. Once you have resolved the customer’s issue, make sure you pleasantly end the conversation. Before you close the case, ask if everything is clear and if the customer has any other concerns.
Acknowledge the problem again, present the solution then offer to end the conversation. Make sure the customer will feel good about the brand after you end the conversation.
Make your customer support more personal
To be able to successfully apply the five strategies, it is important to be knowledgeable about your brand and other brands as well. Continually educate yourself so that you are ready to provide what your customer needs. Empower your customers with valuable information every time they approach you.
When you provide the best customer support, you will retain your current customers and potentially gain new ones as well. Competition is tough so you cannot afford to overlook this aspect of your business. People will buy from you not only because they like your product but also because they like your service. It only takes one bad customer service experience for a customer to turn away from your brand.
Alice Clarke is a content strategist and a support manager from Top Aussie Writers. She loves hitchhiking and exploring new places for writing catching pieces.