Without customers who make purchases, refer friends, and keep coming back for more, it’s very hard to grow a business. Making your customers feel important is a vital component of this cycle.
Businesses typically rise to the top when they offer the types of products and services that people want. But warning: This doesn’t mean you can take customers for granted just because you have something they crave.
The idea of customer support is more than a necessity for post-sale activities. It’s a mistake to view your customer support team as a cost center. When you make your customers feel important, your customer service team becomes a growth center that drives your revenue up continually.
The bottom line is you have to bolster your customer service efforts to deliver the experience your customers expect, and this, in itself, promotes brand loyalty.
As a business owner, lots of people in your world are important—vendors, employees, partners, associates.
Before people become your customers, consider that they’re people first. Everyone likes to feel they have value and they have something to contribute. People are inherently drawn to others that leave them feeling like they’re valued. That’s a fundamental concept when you consider value as it pertains to your customers.
The very first opportunity you have to make your customers feel valued starts with customer engagement. But, it only begins there. You have many more opportunities to show your customers that you value them from the initial sale to after-care support, customer service, and new sales.
While good customer service will help you build revenue, it’s essential that you don’t overlook the
According to the 2017 American Express Customer Service Barometer, 81% of Americans said that businesses were at least meeting, if not exceeding their expectations for customer service, which is nearly 8 of 10. This percentage compares with only 67% in 2014.
Customer service entails providing excellent service and support to current and future customers.
This Aircall study showed that 69% of customers prefer to use the phone when they want to contact you. That said, 91% of those surveyed said they preferred brands that offer multiple customer service options.
Today, customers want and expect more than a basic product or service. They want the whole experience, much like the personalized service you’d expect to get at an elite spa or a 3-star Michelin restaurant.
The qualities that you extend to the customer relationship will come back to you. Honesty, trust, and mutual respect are the hallmarks of a solid relationship. These are the qualities that make your customers feel valued and appreciated.
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What makes you feel like you’re valued when you’re the customer?
You want to know that the people you’re dealing with at a company are competent and that the employees are working hard on your behalf. You want products and services that make things convenient for you. If you’re like most customers, you want all that and at the same time, be treated like you’re more than a number.
The customer relationship isn’t over at the close of a sale. Consider it a continuation of the relationship.
It’s always hard to measure intangible things like character qualities. Yet, the right approaches to how your treat customers go a long way toward making them feel like you value the relationship.
When you have a lot of employees and they’re all doing a multitude of jobs, it’s difficult for them to focus on customer service. A well-functioning call center is easy to set up and it gives you the opportunity to delegate a group of individuals solely to customer service.
Your customers are your livelihood so be sure to thank them for their business. Use tangible gifts like freebies, discounts, and special offers to show you value their business. It’s also appropriate to express thanks for their business directly in a thank-you email.
Whenever you’re dealing with someone new, there’s the fear of the unknown. Give your customers a great customer experience from the start and follow that up with even better customer service every time. Customers feel valued when they know they can count on you and a consistent response will yield customer lifetime value.
Don’t make assumptions during customer calls. While you may encounter similar problems or questions, approach every customer interaction as unique. Listen to their comments and concerns and respond accordingly.
Everyone in your company can’t be an expert in every area. This is where specialized call teams and advanced call routing are assets. By automating calls to the right people immediately, you demonstrate competency on a consistent basis.
Provide a human touch. Personalized service helps customers feel like they’re the only person in a crowd, and that has much value.
It’s very frustrating for customers when they’re waiting for a response from your company and they hear nothing. It makes them feel like they’ve gone into the black hole. By keeping customers updated, they are less likely to get upset when there are problems or delays.
Your customers are busy. Often, they reach out to you via whatever communication channel is most convenient for them. Give them the option of using a variety of communication channels.
These approaches to customer service translate into a positive customer experience that will lead to strong brand loyalty.
With the right approach, you can easily take some basic principles of courtesy and make them actionable. Here’s how:
It is essential to training your call center agents in the area of customer relationships and customer experience. You also need to provide them the proper communication tools that will help them achieve the goals you set for them.
It’s often fairly easy to impress customers during the first contact, but how do you make customers feel important every time they contact you?
As with any job that you do, it always helps to have the right tools for the job. Call centers that ensure strong customer engagement and support implement when they use the advantages of a cloud-based phone system and call center software. The right software solutions allow you to take the steps that evoke positive emotions in customers, engage them, and ensure they feel supported.
Here’s how the right software solutions can take your call center from good to great.
Call center agents need customer service skills to be able to use the tools they’re given and communicate the quality of your brand. Coaching and training make a big difference in giving your customers the feeling like they’ve had a positive experience.
These are the top qualities to train for in support agents.
It’s always nice to hire call center agents that have call center experience, but it’s sometimes better to train the right people. It’s often easier to train call center agents that have little or no experience because they don’t have bad habits to break that they learned at another company.
Your brand is a big deal. You’ve worked hard to create it and you’re proud of it, just as you should be. When you’re able to put all these tips together and make your customers feel important, you’ll achieve brand loyalty in short order. Happy customers will gladly spread the word about your products or services. Customer loyalty will surely bring you referrals and that’s easy word-of-mouth marketing with no effort or expense on your part.
Here are 10 best practices to help customers feel more important.
Customer service entails providing timely help to meet customers’ needs with every interaction. Remember that strong relationships are at the heart of great customer service. To consider your call center successful in customer service, you have to make customers feel that you value them throughout every step of the sales cycle and beyond. Customers will return to you again and again when you treat them like a VIP every time.
This article originally appeared by our friends at Aircall.
