With any business, the relationship between your company and your customers is the most important thing. If your customer service isn’t delivering, your clientele will take their business, and their wallets, elsewhere. With the dominance of the internet and social media, word of mouth is at its most powerful. Unless you have a monopoly on an entire industry, you cannot afford to have poor customer service – and even then, why would you want to? We’ve put together a list of five easy steps you can take to improve your business’ client interactions:
Upgrade Your Phone System
If your customer service reps spend half their day battling the phone lines and compensating for archaic systems, your answer is easily found in a broadsoft cloud-based PBX system. Not only does it facilitate smoother, seamless contact with customers, but it can also make a huge difference for how your entire business communicates internally. Open up the channels and take advantage of the great features such as call recording, call queues, voice menus and free calling between users. You’ll save money, provide quicker and more reliable customer service, and make the communication more comfortable for the entire workplace.
Get Busy on Social Media
While some were slow to adapt over the last decade, there is no excuse for a business lacking a social media presence in this day and age. Setting it up is simple enough, but the next step (and where many go wrong) is in sustaining your efforts. Your business needs to be frequently posting, and interacting with their customer base. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, you need to be seen to be visibly communicating and connecting with customers.
Retrain Your Staff
Take the time to eavesdrop on your customer service representatives as they take a couple of calls. Are they as friendly and as helpful as they could be? Are all of your employees hitting the same level of efficiency and handling problems with consistency? If not, it may be time for some training sessions to get everything back on the right track. After all, while a sophisticated phone system and social media presence are essential, it can only do so much if your staff aren’t performing at their optimum level.
Loyalty Rewards
Think about what makes you a loyal customer to specific brands or businesses. Would it make a difference if you went somewhere else, or do you find yourself rewarded by going back to the one place? Find a way to reward long-term, returning customers for their loyalty. That could be a discount, an upgrade to a better product, or a branded corporate gift a token of your appreciation. Many businesses offer deals for new customers, but don’t forget about your mainstays.
From the Horse’s Mouth
When it comes to client feedback, from where are you getting the information? Although reviews for many businesses and companies can be found online on third-party sites, it’s worthwhile to check in personally from time to time. By getting feedback directly following interactions with your staff, you can stay up to date with any issues and also have a chance to rectify any negative experiences before they become public complaints on Google or Facebook.
These are just the starting points but are hopefully enough to get you moving in the right direction. Keep tabs on these steps from time to time to make sure any improvements stay on track over the long-term.