Irrespective of how ground-breaking your innovation and products are, you’re unlikely to see growth when customers face problems they can’t solve, and your customer service team is as good as absent. That means earning your customers' trust and loyalty and building long-term relationships are vital to your retail success. But how can you accomplish that in 2023?
Today, exceptional customer service is one of the differentiating factors between your business and your competitors. It can also become the backbone of your company, giving your team the upper hand and helping you stay on top of the latest trends.
If you're interested in customer service trends, then keep reading. In this article, we unpack how to deliver excellent customer service and ensure your customers return again and again.
1. Focus on workforce management
Can a customer service agent meticulously solve customer problems if they’re preoccupied with their human resources problem?
Obviously no.
In an ideal customer service scenario, a customer contacts a service centre, and the agent picks up the phone, understands the customer’s problem, and resolves their mishaps within minutes.
Pro-tip: Accommodating schedule preferences reduces employee attrition, improving the overall competency level of the department wherein each customer service agent strives hard to deliver.
But what if multiple agents fall sick and the service centre receives numerous calls? Your customer service interaction disappears.
For this reason, retail companies must focus on scheduling retail employees, ultimately becoming a blessing in disguise for both customers and agents.
Automated scheduling tools are the engine driving your customer experience as it helps you know the schedule of your employees and utilise every member to their fullest capacity.
As most of these tools allow managers to communicate in-platform with employees, it creates workplace flexibility as they can accommodate last-minute shift changes.
2. Ensure you have an outstanding customer service team
The building block of providing spectacular customer service is creating a talented and outstanding customer service team. As your customer service team is the face of your company, ensuring adequate training and hiring people passionate about customer service is essential.
It’s not enough to build your dream team. You need to empower your team with technology and tools that makes running a help desk a seamless experience. Tools like customer relationship management improve productivity while providing high-quality services.
Finally, a critical aspect of building a team is to build morale by incentivising team members and applauding employees when they outperform themselves.
3. Provide omnichannel customer service support
Whenever a customer complains on your Facebook page, you might be tempted to take the conversation offline to ensure the issue doesn’t go public.
But taking the conversation off their preferred channel isn’t as easy as it seems. Why?
Customers may have tried connecting with you on your toll-free number and had to wait a long time. They may have sent an email, which is still pending a response from your end. Or they prefer using social media to connect with every brand.
Providing superior customer service support on channels your customer prefers creates a positive experience, which every customer craves.
Ensure your customer service agents handle queries through phone, emails, social media channels, and even live chats. Train your agents so they can switch between different communication channels.
4. Put your customers at the forefront
Today, customers love interacting and doing business with customer-centric companies. Why? Because such companies focus on delivering a truly immersive experience.
Often, these companies foster a culture of putting customers at the centre of their orbit.
For instance, you can make it mandatory for new hires and executive leaders to take customer service calls for at least a month. This helps everyone understand what customers expect, and they learn the art of managing them.
Having no time limit on customer centre calls is another excellent tactic, giving freedom for your employees to talk with your customers for as long as they need, to get the results they expect.
For instance, in 2016, Zappos set a record for completing one of the longest customer service calls, and they take pride in their achievement. The longest call their customer service managed was 10 hours and 43 minutes.
Putting customers at the forefront also means hiring customer-focused employees who leave no stone unturned in providing a superior experience. Such employees see customers as the heroes of their stories and always try to solve their problems.
5. Demonstrate positivity
Your customer service agent must be polite and professional. But does being polite serve your purpose?
Apart from being polite, following a meticulous approach to problem-solving, setting a solution-oriented tone, and ensuring workplace positivity help you achieve the rapport you always wanted with customers.
Pro-tip: Earning a favourable reputation gives customers a reason to come back and pitch your brand as customer-centric to other customers.
As most customers might contact you when they feel frustrated or fluttered, being empathetic to their situation and responding to their problems with positivity in mind is essential. A positive attitude assures no problem is too big to be solved.
Showing a positive attitude also diffuses the tension between customer service agents and customers. Friendly and cooperative agents make it easier for customers to feel cared for and ensure a positive experience.
6. Master the art of closing conversations
Did you know customer service isn’t about starting conversations? Instead, the success of your customer service team depends on how they finish their conversations.
The goal is to put your customers in a better mood by the end of the call.
Companies can help agents master the art of closing conversations through training and by placing value on every customer interaction they have during the day.
It ensures no issue goes unresolved, and customers leave happy and motivated to return.
Pro-tip: When customers leave a call feeling they’re being taken care of, there is no better feeling because such customers are likely to return.
Another aspect of mastering the art of closing conversations is admitting mistakes. It’s the right thing to do both for customers and the brand.
Conclusion
Providing excellent customer service can be the difference between losing your audience or experiencing multifold growth. It also gives your business a chance to change the dynamics of your company and build, maintain and strengthen relationships with your customers.
