You have seen a lot of useless and vague customer support tips. Some of them might be useful and reasonable. But what are you supposed to do with them?
Well, we’ve put together this thorough list of 10 excellent customer service hacks showing how to improve your customer satisfaction levels and boost loyalty.
Now, let’s dive in:
Address Your Customers by Name
One of the best and significant hacks to improve customer service. It is a fact that people are more attentive and feel at home when you call them by their name. Either over the phone, by text, through email, or in person. It is considered a friendly approach, and people do not feel forced.
Moreover, it humanizes the consumer-business interaction. According to research, brain activity is enhanced when their name calls someone. People feel more connected and ecstatic.
And let’s not forget Dale Carnegie’s famous advice from his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (a trendy book on business communications skills):
“Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
Send Personalized Messages/Replies
Do you reach out with a general robotic message whenever a customer signs up in any of your programs? If yes, then you are not on the right path. Automated messages/replies are no doubt good for helping users. But they do not make the customer feel welcome.
Therefore, it is suggested that whenever a customer signs up, makes a purchase, or sends in a query, reach out with a personal message. They will appreciate the effort, and you will receive a positive impression of your business.
Research led by Experian Marketing Services shows that personalized emails:
- Have 29% higher open rates;
- Have 41% higher click rates;
- Deliver six times more transaction rates.
Also, around 96% of marketers say that personalization improves customer relationships.
So, how do you personalize the messages you send to customers?
- Use the recipient’s name
- Message in their native language
- Using a friendly, informal, or familiar tone and style of writing
Reward Loyal Customers
Rewards and customer appreciation tend to drive more sales. It has the potential to increase your business reputation to the next level. The primary way to reward your customers is to offer a loyalty program.
Customers are more satisfied when companies offer them a more personalized program. So, the idea is to wow loyal clients with an experience they won’t forget any time soon, relevant to their tastes.
For instance, you run a jewelry store. You could reward your long-term clients who promote your brand online with a free statement piece. The same goes for other small businesses. If you have a large corporation, you could offer your loyal customers a free tour to the corporation. Or something that will make them feel valued.
Remember that word-of-mouth advertisement is far more helpful and has better results.
Offer Omni-Channel Support
Brands that offer easy contact support tend to have better customer satisfaction levels. The most common complaint of SaaS customers is that they find it hard to get in touch with customer support. Omnichannel has a presence and customer services on any channel with active clients.
People are using different channels and devices to shop. It is more convenient for your support strategy and customers to have an omnichannel support system.
For example, if you were to run a chain of retail stores, your strategy should cover:
- In-person interactions with the staff
- Social media support (the exact platform(s) your customers use)
- Email support
- Phone support
- Live chat support
All of that is to ensure the customer has a seamless experience no matter the channel they use.
Offer Self-Help Support
Most customers prefer helping themselves rather than waiting for the company to respond. According to the Zendesk survey, 53% of people are more interested in solving their problems.
We have a workable solution for you. Skin general FAQ section and provide access to in-depth and knowledge base section on your website. Observe the most common complaints and answer them thoroughly through articles and tutorials.
Moreover, adding a support chatbot to your website makes a huge difference. According to a Hubspot survey, 57% of people are interested in the idea of taking help from a chatbot. ChatBots also reduces customer service costs by up to 30%.
Offer a Robust Refund Policy
Having a robust refund policy increases the customer’s trust levels. It makes the purchase experience risk-free, so people buy more products. Most brands do have a good refund policy. However, just advertising is not going to make any difference.
Make the policy easy to understand and free of any complicated legal jargon. It should be straightforward. You could also offer 30 or 60-day moke-back guarantees. In short, whatever suits your brand. Also, your website should have a separate landing page for refund and exchange policy.
A Free Trial is a Good Catch
Free Trial is an excellent way to cut out the risk of buying a new product. In today’s world, the trial period is more critical than the trial value. Free Trials often attract customers as they are not worried about the investment.
However, here are a couple of things to keep in mind while offering a free trial:
- Don’t ask people for credit card details at the time of registration for a free trial.
- Let’s customers use their social media accounts to register for a trial.
- Offer customers as many features as possible
- Don’t be too aggressive with promoting your subscriptions during the trial period.
- You can have a “Pricing/Upgrade” tab present in the trial version or just notify users about upgrading to the paid version when their trial is almost over.
Discount is Never a Bad Idea
Discounts are a great way to attract customers. According to Shopify’s research, brands that offer active discounts are more likely to make big sales. You can add a separate page with unique price tags on your products or provide discount codes for your new and loyal customers. You can also offer a giveaway or free shipping. It works pretty well with customers.
Ask for Customer Feedback
Do not just wait for customers to leave feedback. You must act actively and ask customers for feedback. The best way to get feedback is to send a survey after a customer purchases your product.
Social media is getting modern with each day. You can add polls on your social media asking clients to give feedback. Ask them to send in-depth feedback. So, you could send it to all of your related departments.
It will help you improve any backlogs in your business and enhance customer services.
Stay active on social media.
One-to-one engagement with customers makes a huge difference in sales. When customers encounter a problem, they want a quick solution or answer. It is suggested that to stay active on social media and engage with your customers.
If you have a large customer base, having 24/7 customer service is beneficial for your brand. You can hire multiple customer reps and have them work in shifts. Hire freelancers for your customer services and expand your team.
We have tried our best to help you improve your customer service. You can reach out to us for more.
Until next time!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three essential qualities of customer service?
Essentially, 3Ps are professionalism, patience, and a “people-first” attitude. Although customer service varies from customer to customer, as long as you’re following these guidelines, you’re on the right track.
What are the four essential principles of customer service?
There are four fundamental principles of good customer service: Personalized, competent, convenient, and proactive. These factors have the most significant influence on the customer experience.
How to deal with angry customers?
- Stay calm.
- Shift your mindset.
- Acknowledge their distress.
- Introduce yourself.
- Learn about the person you are talking to.
- Listen.
- Repeat their concerns back to the customer.
- Sympathize, empathize and apologize.