The influence you have on
others can be way beyond what you imagined.
We all know that providing exceptional customer service is the stated goal of every business leader, regardless of how large or small the company. It’s common knowledge that customers are more loyal to companies who treat them as more than just a number. So it is no surprise that businesses are turning to ways to keep customers returning, including improving customer service recoveries.
When considering why convenience has become a key differentiator, the answer is right in our faces: We all have busy lives; we’re all pulled in multiple directions all day long. Given an alternative, does anyone want less convenience or to spend more time on their to-do list?
This idea isn’t really new. Corner markets and convenience stores aren’t just competing with the big-box superstores, they flourish. Why? The reason is in their names: They’re right where their customers are, and they’re convenient. They don’t usually have lines, and they don’t have aisles and aisles of choices to sift through.
They’ve established just what their shoppers want to be able to run in and grab, be it a hot snack, a cold drink, or gas for the car and ice cream for the kids. Taking this one step further, let’s consider the downside of limitless choices.
In quick and convenient customer experience, the customer doesn’t want to wander around, get lost or distracted, or hit a dead-end on their way to achieving their goal for the transaction; in fact, getting in and out easily with exactly what they need is an integral part of the goal. The industry disruptors like Amazon are the ones who latch onto this reality and work to not only be proactive and easy on their customers today but to look ahead and implement what will be quick and convenient tomorrow.
For instance, the most effective chatbots are programmed to recognize when a customer is struggling and to effortlessly deliver that customer to a live customer service agent. Changing your approach so that each part of the customer experience is created around your customers’ definition of what is convenient is what creates loyalty today.
Have you gone through your own company’s customer journey recently? If you were a customer, would you feel your company is easy to do business with?
But here is the thing. Customer experience quality is no longer an emerging trend to merely keep an eye on – it’s a burgeoning movement that companies would be very wise to embrace. Instead of returning to a store or calling a helpline, people are increasingly turning to social media to resolve their gripes. It is called social customer care.
Sadly, the personal touch customers want — and deserve — is often
lost in the daily grind of doing business… especially in larger companies.
Too often the leaders do not model the very behaviors they expect from their
teams.
Here are five simple ways to keep your customers coming back, even
after facing their problems or complaints:
Be genuine
Your best action is to be genuine and to personalize the conversation. When a customer calls with a complaint or a concern, make the time to treat them like an individual. And ensure your employees do, too.
While calling a customer ma’am or sir is respectful, it doesn’t offer a personal touch. Replying, “Yes sir, I understand,” is polite. And polite is certainly good. But adding the customer’s name is so much better!
Using a customer’s name whenever possible helps her see you are truly engaged in serving her, regardless of the problems she’s brought to your attention. And it helps her realize she’s more important to your company than her checkbook.
Be accountable
One of the most aggravating things a customer faces where customer care
is concerned is being passed around like an old hat that no one wants.
Impeccable service ensures that every company employee, regardless of rank,
handles customers to the fullest extent of their abilities.
Never refer a customer to someone else simply because you don’t know
how to handle his problem. Instead, take the time to help him fix the problem,
if possible. Or at the least, if you must refer a customer, find someone who
can resolve their issue and provide a warm hand-off.
Ensuring your customer achieves a desirable outcome will create a
customer for life.
Be empathetic
Listen, acknowledge, validate & apologize to your customers when there is an issue. Sometimes people really do just need to vent, and rarely should a complaint be taken personally.
Learn to acknowledge the customer’s issue, and train employees to do the same. It helps your customers to know that someone understands their concerns.
You must be empathetic.
Let them know you understand the way they are feeling and apologize even if you don’t feel you need to.
A sincere apology works wonders in creating happy, loyal customers, and
confirms your willingness to take responsibility for the customer’s problem.
Be innovative
Once you understand the customer’s problem, offer legitimate solutions.
Avoid telling the customer what you can’t do, at
all costs. Instead, focus on what you can do to
remedy her situation, and offer some options.
Working to solve your customer’s problem — even if not to the extent they
may have hoped — will help her feel as if you care about her and her business.
A solution-focused attitude will keep customers coming back even after they’ve faced a problem with your company.
Be trustworthy
Being trustworthy means you never make impossible promises. You know the ones you can’t keep.Often, in an effort to appease a customer, an employee or company leader will make promises that are not only impractical but which he or she is simply not able to honor.
Instead, offer a realistic, workable solution that will allow you to
rebuild your customer relationship and provide some satisfaction. It’s not
necessary to ‘give away the farm’. Just
meet the situation realistically and your customer will appreciate the effort.
Check out this subject: How to Make Customer Care the Heart of Customer Service
One of the best stories I’ve ever heard came to me from a senior executive at a leading tech firm. Apparently, his company won a million-dollar contract to design a sensor that could detect pollutants at very small concentrations underwater.
It was an unusually complex problem, so the firm set up a team of crack chip designers and they started putting their heads together. About 45 minutes into their first working session, the marine biologist assigned to their team walked in with a bag of clams and set them on the table.
Seeing the confused looks of the chip designers, he explained that clams can detect pollutants at just a few parts-per-million and when that happens, they open their shells. As it turned out, they didn’t need a fancy chip to detect pollutants, just a simple one to alert the system to clams opening their shells. “They saved $999,000 and ate the clams for dinner,” the executive told me.
That, in essence, is the value of using innovation experience and it can be very helpful, but it is only one tool among many. We need to learn to use the entire toolbox.
The bottom line
While these tips will help you provide quality care to your customers, there will be times when nothing anyone else does will be enough to keep a customer.
Knowing you’ve offered impeccable service, however, will help you sleep better at night realizing there was nothing more you could have done to meet the customer’s needs.
Need some help in building better customer service for your customers? Have you noticed the growing importance of customer service you provide, especially for your marketing? Creative ideas to help enhance your word of mouth marketing?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight
gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas for your service to
customers.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most
important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous
learning for yourself and your team?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer
service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that
relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your
ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration
along the way.
More
reading on customer service from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Stunning Customer Service
Lessons and Their Examples
