Good customer service is a key part of making your online business successful and should be considered at every touchpoint that the customer has with your business. From your websites live chat, to your social media and especially when dealing with any returns and refunds.
Good customer service can aid your customers experience massively so making sure that you’re doing everything you can to ensure your customers have a great experience will help you to not only generate sales but also keep them coming back. We’re going to be talking about 5 things you can do today to help improve your customer experience for your business
1. Communication
Communication is a main pillar of customer service and without it your business is not likely to succeed. When we talk about communication we’re not just talking about speaking to your customers whether that be over the phone or in your shop. We’re talking about being clear and concise when communicating with them about all aspects of your business and not just when making a sale.
Communication is in every part of your business and even in the parts you might not think about too much. When you release a new line of products on your shop, you might share this across your social media channels and newsletter for example and this is a good example of communicating with your customers. However, throughout every part of the shopping experience for customers you are communicating with them.
From what’s included on your website and social media channels, to the emails you send them and even when they receive their package from you. What you put out into the world is all part of communicating with your customers so here are a few things you can do to improve your communication.
- Set expectations for replies on live chat and email – this way your customers know to expect a reply within an hour or so rather than leaving them wondering
- Use positive language – for example instead of saying “I’m sorry that item is unavailable” say “That item is currently out of stock but I can put an order in for you now and it will be with you in a week or two”
- Be clear and concise – every time you’re communicating with customers, be clear and concise with what you’re saying. This also goes for any and all refund and returns policies you have so expectations about this are clear for both you and the customer
2. Underpromise and Overdeliver
Another part of customer service is that you have the power to underpromise and overdeliver and delight your customers by exceeding their expectations. This is a sure-fire way to ensure good customer experience and help them to become a returning customer.
Delighting your customers in any way you can, even if it’s just to help them narrow down what they’re looking for or making recommendations, can help improve their experience and when you do this unexpectedly, customers will usually have a more positive reaction and thus be more inclined to leave a positive review for your business and become a repeat buyer.
Here are a few ways you can delight your customers:
- Adding in low-cost free items to their order as a thank you for shopping with you
- Getting their order to them quicker than they expected
- Offer them exclusive discounts and offers on your products that are only available for existing customers
3. Be Friendly and Approachable
This tip usually goes without saying but we’re including it because sometimes you can get caught up and this can be affected. Ensure you’re always as friendly and approachable as possible (with a smile on your face) so customers feel at ease talking to you about what they’re after.
Try to empathise with them if they’re experiencing an issue and work to resolve it as quickly as you can but with a solution that makes both you as a business owner and more importantly the customer, happy. If something has gone wrong, apologise and empathise with the situation they’re currently facing and do everything in your power to resolve it.
Here are some things you can do to help you be friendly and approachable:
- Have a positive attitude
- Work to resolve issues with a smile
- Care and have empathy
4. Serve your customers
Moving on from the last tip, serving your customers is related to all of these tips as well as your overall customer service experience. While you are running a business it’s easy to forget that you are working to serve your customers needs. Your customers are the lifeline of your business and without them you wouldn’t succeed.
This is why it’s important to serve your customers as best you can and at every opportunity. From a demand for a particular product or service you could provide right down to being proactive with your customer base about discounts and exclusive offers.
Work to ensure that your customers and their experience with your business is your top priority. Become an advocate for your customers and their needs and do everything you can to fulfil them.
Here’s a few things to remember to help you serve your customers better:
- Remember they’re people too – it’s easy to get annoyed when a customer complains, for example, but remember they have their own frustrations and expectations too so do your best to remember this even in difficult situations
- Try to give them what they want – by this we don’t mean give them the world, but if there’s a demand for a particular product try to offer it in your range
5. Listen
Our last tip but arguably our most important tip is to listen. Being a good listener is a skill that not everyone has and it doesn’t mean just listening to what your customers are saying, but really hearing them when they are talking to you.
You may be speaking with a customer about a particular item but if you read between the lines, you may be able to offer them something better suited that actually fits their needs better than the initial item they were thinking of.
Listening is also about hearing their concerns and essentially using all the tips we’ve covered in this article to better understand them and improve their overall experience. Listening can also extend to analytics of your website, if your traffic is coming from a particular source, perhaps there’s an opportunity there for you to widen your customer base but there is currently no awareness of your brand there.
What customer experience tips do you use in your business? Let us know in the comments!
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