It’s easy for small businesses to get distracted with their products or services, and neglect one of the most important components of their business; Customer Service. The time spent working on your products, stocking shelves, or writing an email can take away from this precious and often neglected gem. Remember, customer service is your main interaction point between your company the customer and from my experience one of the primary measures of a successful business.
Customer service is more than a process, it’s a relationship that you are building with a customer. If you view it as a relationship, you will make the experience unforgettable. Below are 5 steps that are proven to build a lasting relationship with your customer.
1. Listen to their issues/story:
There is usually a reason why a user or potential customer is calling. Bad user experience, stumbled upon something broken, didn’t receive fast enough feedback, etc. Whatever that reason may be, it is vital to listen to their experience from beginning to end. This gives the customer time to vent and relieve any discrepancies they have encountered. The simple act of venting lets the customer know that someone is listening.
2. Provide Reassurance:
Chances are after listing off their list of critiques and complaints; the customer is going to want to hear a reaction or resolution to their problem. At this point, it’s important to summarize and restate their problem so that they feel they have been acknowledged.
3. Provide and Explain the Solution:
After summarizing and restating the problem, immediately follow this with the solution. Explaining the solution from start to finish will help the customer understand the fix and reassure that they have been heard correctly.
4. Explain the Solution again:
As if once isn’t enough, explaining the solution again will ensure that you and the customer are on the same level, which is a good way to make a connection and build on the relationship. A good way to approach this is without sounding redundant is to summarize the solution points and ask if the customer if they understand.
5. Follow Up.
Showing initiative in following up with the customer can make a huge impact on the customers perception of your company. Using an Issue Tracking or Help Desk app can make this easy and help make follow ups quick and consistent. You can easily refer to the problem, see the resolution process, and view any notes to make sure you don’t miss anything when following back up with the customer.
What about your business? What steps do you include when delivering unforgettable customer service?
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