Build customer loyalty with exceptional customer service
Many customers agree that high-quality customer service is an important driver of customer loyalty. Bad service drives customers away.
Even though the customer service department might not be solely responsible for improving customer loyalty, the quality of service has a big impact on how customers feel about your company. If you're slow to respond, rude to customers and unable to help - you can be sure that customers won’t stick around.
There are a few things you can do to provide exceptional customer service that wins loyal customers, creating customers for life.
Remember the basics
Customers consistently rank the same aspects highly when it comes to quality customer service - and they aren’t hard to deliver on.
SPEED OF SERVICE
Valuing your customers’ time, not making them wait on hold and responding quickly is critical to providing excellent customer service. In today’s world, convenience is king, so anything you can do to be more responsive to customers will help increase their loyalty.
BE PERSONABLE
Treating customers like they are actual people is simple in principle, but after eight hours of answering angry customer questions it can be hard to do consistently. But if your team is able to connect with customers by being friendly and genuine, your customers will have a better experience and come back for more.
ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS
There’s nothing more frustrating than being given the run around by customer service agents, only to realize they can’t help you. Focus on resolving the customer’s questions above everything else.
Listen to your customers
Every time a customer writes into your customer service team they are providing information about their experience. Whether they are asking for a new feature, reporting a bug or simply unable to understand how the product works - this is valuable information that can help improve customer loyalty. Customers want to feel heard and they want businesses to listen to their concerns. Showing that you care about customers’ needs will keep them loyal to your business.
SEND CUSTOMER FEEDBACK TO THE RIGHT TEAMS
Don’t waste the valuable insights from your customers by letting them sit in your inbox. Take the time to categorize incoming feedback, analyze what customers are asking for and deliver this information to the team that can action it. For example, if customers are consistently confused about a marketing promotion, send this data to your marketing team so they can make changes.
CLOSE THE LOOP
When customers take the time to give feedback, respect their time and make sure to follow up. When a customer’s suggestion is implemented in the product, send them an email to let them know. Not only will the customer be pleased that your company listens to their needs - they are also much more likely to start using a new feature when they hear about it directly from you!
SOLICIT FEEDBACK AT EVERY STEP
Not all customers will write to customer service for help, but they will still have opinions about your product. Sending out feedback surveys will help collect insight from all customers. It’s also important to collect feedback from every step along the customer’s journey. How do they feel about onboarding? Did the sales process feel smooth to them? You can even ask about your cancellation process - by making it easy for customers to leave on their own terms, you’re keeping the door open for them to come back.
Be proactive
As we discussed earlier, customer effort is one of the leading causes of disloyalty. When customers have to put in work to use your service (either through dealing with customer service inquiries or stumbling through complicated features), they often decide it’s not worth it. One of the most effective ways to prevent customers from churning is to anticipate any bumps in the road and smooth them out before customers encounter them.
NEXT ISSUE AVOIDANCE
Next issue avoidance is the process used by top customer service teams to ensure they don’t just answer the question the customer has now - but also the next question they might run into.
For example, imagine your customer writes into customer service to add a new user to their billing plan. You add the new user and let the customer know that you’ve done what they asked. Two hours later you get another email from the customer asking how they set up the new user’s permissions and settings. Wouldn’t it have been easier to send that information along to the customer in the first email? You could have avoided the customer running into a new obstacle by setting them up for success in the first response. To start with next issue avoidance, think about the next steps your customer will take after they read your email - are they going to need to set up something? Is there another step they need to know about? By offering this information proactively, you can guide the customer to a complete resolution of their question.
A GLOBAL PROACTIVE STRATEGY
A global proactive strategy is even more effective in improving customer loyalty. Rather than just avoiding future issues for the customer in front of you, be proactive in removing obstacles that many customers encounter. If you’re tagging incoming questions from customers in your help desk, you can identify common trends. Then, implement a fix for all customers that might possibly run into the problem. Not only does this mean your customers won’t be inconvenienced - it also means that your team won’t need to deal with the incoming questions, giving you more time to provide excellent service to other customers.
Make it easy with self-service
Customers love to do business with companies that make it easy for them to be successful. Offering a self-service portal for customers to resolve their own issues will improve their experience. Firstly, they won’t need to wait for assistance, because self-service is always open and always available. Secondly, they can work through solutions at their own pace and choose their favorite format - video, images or text.
- Documenting common customer needs in your knowledge base allows customers to help themselves, any time of the day.
- Creating a community support forum will increase customer engagement. Customers can help each other, share tips and tricks and discuss feature requests.
- Offering self-serve account options - including easy account upgrades and cancellations can reduce the strain on your busy support team and allow customers to control their own experience.