Customer Service Success: 5 Secrets to Know
While there is no concrete equation to what equates to successful customer support, here are some tips to help get you closer to achieving customer service success.
Add a personal touch
A great deal of customer interaction now takes place online. The lack of personal interaction makes it to establish a relationship. Remember, even though a customer may never hear a voice or see a face, there are little things you can do to remind them that they are being helped by a friendly person on the other end.
Help desk support staff should always offer a friendly greeting and introduce their self. Customer service should also be sure to use the customer’s name in emails, tickets and chats. And manners are a must! Just because the contact may be via chat does not mean that it is any less important to use basic courtesies like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.
Simplify with self help
Customers can immediately research their issue if you have provided a FAQ, wiki or knowledge base. Offer as detailed as possible solutions for the most commonly submitted questions. If the customer can find the solution themselves it will provide instantaneous customer service and eliminate the need for them to get in touch with you via another channel.
Offer online and offline customer service
Provide customers multiple avenues with which to reach your help desk or customer support team. What works for one customer may not for another. Satisfy more customers by providing numerous contact options. Let the customer select the support channel that they feel most comfortable with, but ensure that your support staff is providing a clear and consistent experience through all channels.
Don’t waste time
Many businesses have an autoreply to emails stating that they received the submission and will get back to you within 12, 24 or 48 hours. If a customer contacts you by phone, they are probably too busy to get online or they want immediate attention. If you can aim to make both services quick and responsive, the customer will be more likely to reach out online. But if they do make the choice to contact you by phone, consider their time. If hold times are long, ask if they would not mind if you took their number and called them back. Most customers would prefer this option to being put on hold.
Follow up
Great customer service should not end once the call has been taken or the ticket has been assigned. Make sure to follow up on open customer issues until the customer feels it has been resolved. As a company, your goal should be to deliver customer service that makes customers feel confident in choosing you as their provider of goods or services.
The most successful companies go above and beyond to try to make the customer happy. Find out how TeamSupport can assist your team to achieve customer support success.
