5 Actionable Tips That Will Make Your Customer Service Better
Remember that great feeling of importance you felt when customer support agent went out of his way to help you?
Of course you do.
It’s always memorable when someone remembers your name and makes EVERYTHING humanly possible to solve your problem.
Want to know the best part?
Great service is great for business.
That means it can be useful for your business too!
Tip #1: Be prepared
Acknowledge the fact that you WILL be contacted with questions about the product you sold, even if you have explained it all in a readme file or your product description.
“Think about the potential issues that might arise when using your product – how to open the file, which programs can be used for this, are there some known software compatibility issues?”
Tip #2: Take angry customers seriously
Some people will get angry when they’re not getting the level of customer support they believe they are entitled to.
While you can’t always correctly predict how certain customers might react, you can put an effort towards resolving the issue before it escalates and gets to this point.
> “Stay calm and always try to get into your customer’s shoes. In cases when the buyer is clearly demanding something that you or your product are not able to deliver – point them to product description that says what your products does and does not do.”
Tip #3: Be polite
Related to the previous point, but true regardless of the type of communication you are having – always be polite. **Ignore this, and you will find yourself labeled as unprofessional **and it will only make the problem worse.
Check for things that were never meant to be rude, but might appear this way. **Don’t leave any ambiguity in your writing**, [make it clear and impossible to misinterpret](https://blog.zopim.com/2013/08/06/how-to-make-your-customer-service-representatives-sound-more-human/).
“Remember that sometimes overly short answers might be considered as rude. It’s important to prioritize your time and tasks, but make sure you’re not doing so at the expense of good customer service.”
It goes without saying that you should never talk down to your customer. The buyer might be offended by that and request a refund for his purchase.
Tip #4: Be There
You don’t have a huge customer support department large corporations can afford. When it comes to support, there’s no one else, but you. If you don’t give quality support to your customers, no one else will.
Be there for them and jump at such opportunities. This might be the edge you have over your competition, who are unable to provide fast support over social media.
“Don’t forget to look through your blog post comments every once in a while, as this might be another source for support requests.”
If you don’t want people asking you product related questions in the comments section, make it clear to them that you will not be offering support through this medium and mention alternative ways to receive support.
Tip #5: Approach each customer individually
In times when companies are going out of their way to eliminate any costly communications with customers, a completely opposite approach is gaining traction. Providing a human-centric customer service by getting to know your customers.
“Sending a personal thank-you note is easier now than it ever was before. And including a small free item will probably cost you close to nothing, but will go a long way towards making your customer remember you.”
What’s more important, this makes it more likely that they will mention you and your products to friends and peers.
Over to you
Did you find any of these customer service tips helpful? Are you using some other techniques to stay on top of your customer support duties? Let me know in the comments section below.
