Maintaining great customer service is vital in an age where so many external factors can influence a customer’s decisions. Supplying great products on time is a good start, but it’s easy to be forgotten without memorable customer care that keeps customers coming back for more.
“Excellent customer service is the number one job in any company! It is the personality of the company and the reason customers come back. Without customers there is no company!” – Connie Edler
While bigger companies can dedicate entire departments to work on customer satisfaction, the already challenging task of upholding customer care is even more daunting for the lean team that most small businesses have. Not to worry! Here are some easy-to-follow tips that won’t break your bank and can even free up time so you can focus on other business aspects while your customers remain satisfied (and prone to return) at all times.
1. Employ a multichannel customer service infrastructure (especially a phone number).
Customer service should be available in person, on the phone, via your website, and on your social media platforms. While some customers are satisfied with messaging you on social media or via email, many will find your brand more trustworthy if you have a phone number listed on your website. That said, ensure your contact details are easy to find – create a Google My Business account to ensure your number shows up during online searches and be sure to place your contact information in a prominent spot on your website. Some customers will prefer emailing their queries, as they may need to attach documents, so be sure to setup and check your customer services email at least twice a day.
2. Properly and continuously train all employees that deal with customer services.
Every interaction with a customer should promote your company’s persona; from customised greetings and answering common questions, to knowing about company rules, guidelines and updates. If you want your business to be viewed as approachable and helpful, then all employees that deal with customers will need to be trained on proper phone and messaging etiquette as well as guidelines for how to handle various customer questions and complaints. With new technology and ways to interact with customers invented all the time, as well as changes that may occur within your business over time, it is important to schedule in regular customer care training sessions to ensure that all team members are on the same page and that new employees are well informed on how to handle customers while keeping the company name high.
3. Create a welcoming environment for customer – physically and virtually.
First impressions are everything! Make sure that every space where your customers can interact with your business is beautifully and functionally set up, whether it be decorating a physical lobby or boardroom to match the brand identity and create a sense of comfort, or if it’s your website that needs to be user-friendly with easy-to-locate company information or perhaps a pop-up to emphasize important updates. The same advice goes for your social platforms; upload cover and post images that match your brand identity, ensure your company and contact information is easily accessible, and be sure to create polite and useful auto-responses for any incoming messages.
First impressions are everything! Make sure that every space where your customers can interact with your business is beautifully and functionally set up, whether it be decorating a physical lobby or boardroom to match the brand identity and create a sense of comfort, or if it’s your website that needs to be user-friendly with easy-to-locate company information or perhaps a pop-up to emphasize important updates. The same advice goes for your social platforms; upload cover and post images that match your brand identity, ensure your company and contact information is easily accessible, and be sure to create polite and useful auto-responses for any incoming messages.
4. Uphold positive, polite and helpful conversations.
Always use polite and friendly tones, even when a customer is being exceptionally difficult. However, don’t get too chatty, as this wastes time. You should keep conversations short and to the point without seeming to rush through dialogue. For example, when answering the phone be sure to give a warm greeting and say the name of the company before asking how you can assist them. This way you have already assured the caller that they contacted the right company, that you are polite and that they can simply go ahead and state their concern without trivial “how are you”-type back-and-forth chatter.
“Good morning / afternoon, thank you for calling [insert company name]. How may I help you / direct your call today?”
It can be challenging to remain calm while a customer is being rude to you, but try to maintain a peaceful tone, listen sincerely, and focus on offering the best solutions above justifying or over-apologising for any mistakes.
5. Don’t keep customer waiting!
Customers and clients will never want to wait, so one of your primary customer care goals should always be to minimise the amount of time it takes to assist a customer. The longer a customer must wait, the higher the chance of them finding and opting for one of your competitors. Set up the correct system for dealing with customers: have a list of common questions and answers at the ready, make sure you have a contact ready should any queries need to be escalated, and only place customers on hold if you absolutely need to – and when you have to place customers on hold, always ask their permission first and keep it short!
6. Motivate employees to personalise customer interactions and go the extra mile with follow-ups.
It can be challenging to keep consistent quality customer service in a small team that tends to share customer care responsibilities. Everyone in a small business eventually will have to deal with a customer and adapt to be polite, remember names and give that personal touch so each customer feels special and appreciated. That is why you need to create KPIs (key performance indicators) and staff incentives for customer services. Set up goals to measure which staff member assists a caller the fastest (without rushing conversations of course) each month, or perhaps create a review system to see which member receives the most positive reviews each year. You can award your team with monthly or annual prizes, even a healthy handful of well-deserved praise can motivate your team to go the extra mile when it comes to conversing with and assisting every customer that walks in, calls or messages.
You should also prompt your team to follows up with customers to ensure they found a satisfying solution. This shows that your brand cares and it fosters a relationship with your customer, making them feel important and boosting the chances of them returning as well as telling their family and friends about you.
7. Escalate problems when needed and avoid saying “I don’t know”.
The worst thing you can say to a customer is “I don’t know”. Not only are you frustrating your customer, but you are also coming across as uneducated or uninformed in your industry. This damages brand trust. If a customer contacts you with a problem or question that you cannot solve nor answer, escalate the query to a team member that can, or rather say “I can certainly assist with that. Our colleague (insert name) handles such matters, please can you hold while I check with him/her, or would you mind if I phone you right back once I have the answer?”. This will buy you time to find the information you need and formulate the best response. Just ensure you don’t keep your customer waiting too long for feedback.
8. Set up some form of after-hour support.
It can be challenging for a small team to complete their normal business tasks and be available 24/7 to answer customer queries. Luckily, there are alternative options for customers that contact after-hours, such as setting up auto-responses on your Facebook page or a voice message for callers that will lead them to your frequently asked questions (FAQ) page on your website, where they may find the solution they are looking for at that time. You can also supply an emergency contact number or set up a Business WhatsApp account should customers be unable or unwilling to wait.
9. Record FAQs and have the answers easily accessible.
Whether you have a dedicated employee that tends to customer services or the whole team shares customer care duties, everyone should have access to the main FAQ document. We recommend using Google Docs or Google Sheets as this will allow you to create a dynamic FAQ document that everyone can access and make changes to. If a new question comes along it can be easily added and everyone with the link (which they should bookmark) can see it from the comfort of their computers without the need to email anyone.
10. Track all customer feedback and incorporate what you can to improve your brand.
You may think your business is perfectly set up, but your customers will easily find loopholes and shortcomings that will only be noticeable from their perspective. That’s why your team should be recording every complaint issued by customers and get together once a month to work on solving or improving what you can. Customer feedback is vital as it tells you how to make your brand better than your competitors. You can also set up customer surveys online and after phone calls to gather customer feedback. Your customers will notice that you take their opinions and concerns seriously and revere your business for putting customers first.
Too busy to do answer the phone?
We’ve got your back! Subscribe to our professional Real Receptionist telephone answering service to have one of our receptionists answer all your business calls. Our team of friendly receptionists can be trained to answer your incoming business calls with specific greetings, or to answer common questions. We can also keep track of your calls, allowing you to listen to them and take note of important feedback that could give your business the boost it needs. Contact us to learn more about the Real Receptionist telephone answering service.
Feature image by Clay Banks
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