Exceptional customer service is essential to any successful business venture. In order to ensure customer loyalty and satisfaction, it is critical that businesses are able to provide good customer experiences, one of which is through amazing customer support and services.
But unlike the common misconception, customer service is not an easy task. There may be circumstances when customers feel frustrated, irrational, impatient, and rude. Despite this, entrepreneurs must maintain a professional attitude and cater to customers’ needs.
To better guide you to better customer service, here are some important tips on how and how not to deal with customers in order to provide quality help and support.
Customer Service Do’s And Don’ts
Source: Pexels
DO: Be respectful and patient.
While it is fairly easy to attend to a calm and composed customer, the challenge comes when you are dealing with a furious, hot-tempered, and rude client. It does not feel good when someone is screaming and shouting, regardless of whether you are at fault or not.
And at times when you are not in the wrong, it is human nature to feel the urge to protect and defend yourself. Although it’s not wrong to do so, it may not be the best course of action in the context of good customer service.
A popular phrase goes, “The customer is always right”. Although that is not true literally, it is okay to follow the same idea of never questioning a customer. Or better yet, never answer a customer rudely, regardless if you are in the right.
It is important for ecommerce business owners and customer support representatives to practice their patience and to always converse with customers with the utmost respect.
DON’T: Disregard customer feelings and feedback.
Empathy is an important part of positive human interactions and, thus, should be an essential element of good customer service. Don’t immediately disregard their feelings when catering to a distraught or frustrated customer.
Instead, put yourself in their shoes and understand where these negative emotions are coming from. Doing this will help you provide more suitable and applicable solutions based on the customer’s current circumstances.
DO: Use simple and easy-to-follow instructions.
There are times when customers call and ask about a product or service. It can be anything from product specs and features to proper use, care and maintenance, and the like.
As a customer service representative, you are considered an expert in your field, industry, or niche. And given that you are knowledgeable about your product or service, there may be a tendency to overcomplicate how you explain these things to others.
An important element of customer service is to make sure that consumers are able to easily understand the what’s, how’s, and why’s of your digital products, goods, or services. Not only should you be able to describe in layman’s terms, but you should also be capable of providing guides to customers that are clear and easy to understand.
DON’T: Use technical words or jargon.
As experts in your field or industry, it can sometimes be difficult to explain concepts, ideas, and terminologies in a simpler way. While it is important to sound like you are knowledgeable and confident in what you are saying, it is more important that your customers and audience are able to understand your message.
To do this, avoid technical words or jargon in any way possible. Whether it’s in your ecommerce website’s copy, product descriptions, or user manuals. Stick to simple words to ensure that your target audience can understand regardless of age or education level.
DO: Encourage customers to ask further questions and clarifications.
In most cases, customers are uncomfortable contacting customer service because they feel like they should be able to figure things out themselves. Considering this, some callers might be too eager to put their phones down even though they are still slightly confused about what they should do.
To ensure that you are able to cater to every customer’s questions and inquiries, it is good practice to specifically ask about any concerns, whether it’s related to their original question or something about the instructions you gave.
You can even ask them to repeat your instructions to ensure they fully understand what you told them to do. Before ending any call, tell them not to hesitate to call again if they would need more help. Doing this will comfort them and boost their confidence to approach your support line whenever needed.
Bottomline
Nowadays, when digital marketing is so competitive, some might say that good customer service is better than strategies such as email marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization.
Business owners can use good customer service as a marketing tactic to increase sales, enhance customer satisfaction, and even boost customer loyalty. Considering this, it is important to ensure that you can provide and offer quality and exceptional customer support and services, whether through your ecommerce website, your social media profile, or whatever ecommerce platform you are on.
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