(Newswire.net — May 31, 2020) — There’s no doubt that customer service matters and it’s a core part of any business’s operations. It helps you to please and keep customers. And, in the long run, top-notch customer service can grow a lengthy list of loyal customers.
However, sometimes most entrepreneurs lose track of the right way of handling customers. Sometimes, the entire team, including customer service staff, disconnects with customer needs. That’s not all because many small businesses make a ton of avoidable mistakes.
But mistakes are not the end of the road. You can identify them and plan a way to rectify your habits. Read on to learn common customer service mistakes that you should avoid.
1. Skipping Customer Service Basics
Customer service, when done the right way, can result in continuous revenues. Happy customers bring in more customers and that’s the most valuable thing that can happen to your business.
But loyal customers can only arise if your customer service foundations are strong. So the worst mistake you can make is to trash customer service 101.
These are basic rules that nurture spirited customer service staff. If you follow them, you can expect fewer customer service problems.
You need to hire the right people with the right skillsets and the right attitudes. It’s like you’re building a house─if you use the right materials you’ll see the value for your money.
Other key basics include answering the phone on time and listening to your customers. There’s nothing more frustrating than calling without someone picking on the other end. Most customers will also expect you to understand their concerns without reexplanations.
2. Not Keeping Promises to Customers
Companies need to keep their promises to win customers’ trust. Trust enables you to build solid relationships with customers. It also further encourages customers to stay in your business.
There may be understandable lapses that customers can forgive. But you must do enough to ensure internal hiccups don’t hurt customers in any way. When customers are sure you did your best, they are more likely to stay.
The worst thing you can do is tell customers you will do something and fail to deliver. That would be a sure way of putting off your customers. Most customers hate excuses and broken promises.
The way forward is as simple as sticking to your word and making realistic promises.
3. Disorganized Handling of Customer Complaints
Sometimes it might seem impossible to get rid of customer complaints but how you handle them can make a big difference to your image. Complaints can make or break your business and ruin your reputation if managed poorly. Yet, they can also open you to opportunities if you deal with them well.
You can handle complaints one by one to ensure that every customer is happy. But sometimes there are too many complaints yet customers want quick responses. In that case, you need support services or technology to track and streamline customer service matters.
That way, you’re able to check progress and update customers on time. It also enhances continuity when new customer service staff take over ongoing cases.
4. Disregarding Loyal Customers
As your business expands, you will attract new customers and sometimes lose old ones. Yet, there’s always a significant group of customers who never leave. They are loyal and the backbone of your business.
Most businesses overfocus on increasing new customers and disregard the loyal ones. Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest customer service mistakes. Keeping loyal customers is 5 to 125 times more valuable than intaking new ones.
It’s essential to put in place a customer retention strategy. This helps to identify, track, and focus on loyal customers. Think of free rewards or special deals on products for loyal customers. Aim to appreciate their loyalty and listen to their opinion to make them feel valued.
5. Not Giving Immediate Responses
Think for a second about waiting for the delivery guy. Ten minutes past their expected arrival, you get frustrated and call them and their best response is ” I’m on the way”. The waiting game is not only upsetting but it can cost your customers a lot of money.
We happen to live in a “microwave society” where instant gratification matters a lot, especially when people are spending their hard-earned dollars. Customers shouldn’t have to exercise too much patience when they have an issue.
Answering customers immediately versus making them wait for full and helpful responses is important. Customers expect respect so you should value their time. Collaborate with your team to provide quick solutions.
6. Lack of Consistency
It’s possible to observe your customer service strategy for a few days. But it’s useful if you can provide prime customer service day in day out. The truth is building customer relationships uses a lot of effort and time.
You must deliver consistent customer service or else you’ll have weak customer connections and relationships. Customers value consistency and reliability from brands. Most of the time they base their service expectations on past experiences.
7. Slow Processes
Speed is the secret to attract new clients and keep existing ones. In the digital age, it has become the heartbeat of customer service. Customers want quick responses, quick access to your site, fast deliveries, and so on.
Slow solutions remain the top mistake of most customer service teams. When a customer has an issue, they shouldn’t have to wait weeks before its solved. Streamline all basic customer service processes (returns, complaints, etc.) to get quicker responses for customers.
If you improve your speeds, you can gain an edge over most of your competitors.
Avoid Customer Service Mistakes
Offering the best customer service is the most effective way of increasing revenues. Avoiding the most common customer service mistakes can help your business improve greatly. Audit your customer service operations and get rid of any mistakes.
That way, you can improve customers’ experience and enjoy business stability. For more tips and advice, check out our blog.