Sure, online shopping is super convenient, but sometimes it lacks the personal touch you'd get in a physical store.
Making your customers happy is a big deal. Studies reveal that when we get great customer service, we tend to share our positive experience with two or three people. On the other hand, if the service is lousy, we're more likely to tell ten to twelve others about it!
If that's not enough to convince you, here's another one. 95% of people tend to check online reviews before buying something, showing that keeping today's customers satisfied is important for getting more in the future. That's why great customer service is so important. The challenge now is figuring out how to do it.
But don't worry, that's what we're here for! Even in the online world, your business can still step up its game and provide a personalised customer service to stand out from the competition.
How? Keep on reading!
Make Getting in Touch a Breeze!
Ensure reaching out to us is a breeze! Nothing's worse than trying to contact an online customer service team and hitting dead ends. Let's make it super easy for customers to connect with you through their preferred channel.
Here's a better approach: prominently feature a "Contact Us" or "Support" link at the top of your website's navigation bar. This way, it's the first thing visitors see, making it easy to find. Also, take steps to ensure that search engines index your contact page so that even if a customer is looking for it outside your site, they can easily locate it.
Yes, you might notice an increase in customer inquiries once you make your contact details more visible, but think of it as tearing off the invisibility cloak. In the long run, it's one of the best things you can do for your customers, ensuring they can effortlessly connect with your support when they need assistance.
Understand Your Customers
Start by understanding what your customers actually want and need from your support team.
When companies start offering support, they usually begin with the basics: replying to emails, taking phone calls, and fixing issues. But once you've got that down, it's time to think about what your customers really care about, not just meeting the minimum expectations.
For instance, having a live chat option is a good step as customers today prefer a swift response to their queries. In this case, they don't want to deal with emails or a forum.
If your customers aren't into phone support but love reaching out through live chat, think about shifting your resources from phones to live chat.
Meet your customers where they already are. If they're on your website, make sure they can find the help they need right there.
Make the Most of Social Media
Using social media for customer service can be a real boost for your business. It helps more people know about your brand, opens up marketing possibilities, and gets customers more involved.
When you're there for your customers on social media, it's not just about fixing issues – it's about building better connections. This can lead to customers sticking around longer, which is a win for your business.
So, when you're handling customer questions, reviews, or complaints on social media, do it quickly. Being on the ball with responses keeps your customers happy and shows you're there for them.
Embrace Chatbots for Customer Support
Chatbots are like your 24/7 customer service assistants, ready to tackle problems, answer questions, and assist with buying decisions – all without needing a break. They work seamlessly across your website and social media, ensuring support is available whenever your customers need it.
These automated helpers are a big part of the future of customer experience (CX). They deliver real-time support on a large scale, a feat not easily achievable by a human team.
When you want to help lots of customers at once without burning out your human staff, chatbots are exactly what you need. They offer quick assistance, boosting engagement, making the overall customer experience better, and keeping visitors on your website.
Chatbots are great at swiftly solving simple problems, reducing support tickets, and easing the load on your phone lines.
But, before you incorporate chatbots to your site, make sure to test them thoroughly to ensure they actually improve the user experience. While AI gives them historical data for common questions, it's essential to test rigorously before letting them interact with your customers.
Set Up an FAQ Page on Your Website
Having an FAQ page is a key part of how your brand handles online customer service. When customers have questions, this is usually the first place they check. If they can't find the answers they need on the FAQ page, they might then reach out through phone, email, or live chat. FAQ pages allow customers to help themselves by finding solutions that have already been explained.
Make sure your FAQs cover basic and common questions, like details about delivery options and return policies. It's also a good idea to organize your FAQ page by categories so customers can quickly find the answers they're looking for.
Improve Your Team's Customer Service Abilities
Ensure your support team has the skills needed to keep customers satisfied. Train them to prioritize customers and minimize the number of people leaving.
Bad customer service skills can hurt your business, but great support can give you an edge. According to 65% of people, the most important thing for excellent customer support is feeling like a valued customer.
To keep customers around, your support team needs:
Empathy – Understand and relate to what customers are going through.
Knowledge – Know a lot about your product.
Communication Skills – Talk clearly and make customers feel comfortable.
Politeness – Be nice and courteous, especially when dealing with complaints.
Listening Skills – Pay attention to customers to figure out what the real issues are.
Encourage Customer Input
Make sure you're actively seeking feedback from your customers and taking action based on their insights. Negative reviews can help you understand where your customer support may be lacking and how to address those issues. On the flip side, feedback also serves as social proof, boosting your brand's credibility.
The process of receiving and implementing feedback is an ongoing process and should extend beyond product improvements to enhance the entire customer journey.
Collect feedback through short surveys and questions at various points in the customer journey. You can seek input via email, use pop-up surveys on your website, or take advantage of native survey features on platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
PRO TIP: Don't forget to recognize and reward your support team when they receive positive feedback for delivering outstanding customer experiences!
Final Words
The strategies mentioned in this article can assist you in providing quick online customer support, smoothing out the transitions in the customer journey, and, in the end, enhancing the overall customer experience.
Make your customers happy by always giving great support and focusing on building a strong connection with them. While the customer may not always be right, making them feel important comes at no cost.
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! We at DigiCom are obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all platforms and placements and provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.
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