Every working day, it’s important to remember that running a business is a cycle. Apart from your team members, your clients play a vital role in leading your brand to success.
While it’s true that having excellent products or services should be of utmost importance, there is another crucial factor that will help drive your business forward—providing a pleasant customer experience.
Customer service can make or break your brand. If done well, it can establish a positive market image that can ultimately improve sales, retention rate, and more. But other than knowing the best practices in customer service, your business should also take the time to understand the don’ts at work.
Continue scrolling through to find out the worst customer service mistakes your company should avoid and the things you can do to deliver a satisfactory customer experience.
The Consequences of Poor Customer Service
Like any bad performance at work, poor customer service comes at a price. Since your clients’ needs and wants affect all facets of your business, their experience with your brand will ultimately determine your success.
Create meaningful interactions with your customers! Here are some possible effects of providing poor customer service to keep in mind.
1. It can create a bad market reputation
A study conducted by Zendesk found that 95% of customers will share their bad customer experience from a company with at least one person. Moreover, 54% will alert at least five other people. As a business owner, those are numbers too valuable to ignore.
They say it requires years to build a reputation, but it only takes a few minutes to destroy it. The spread of news from dissatisfied clients can instantly affect your brand’s marketing and merit. So, keep an eye out for these reviews and always put your right foot forward for your customers.
2. It can reduce conversion opportunities
Even in business, first impressions last. If good customer service can turn a one-time client into a long-term brand advocate by 86%, it can surely do the opposite with poor service performance.
A single encounter can either speed up or disrupt the client cycle. If a prospective client ends up getting disappointed in your level of service, chances are you have lowered your odds to convert them into a successful lead.
3. It can influence customer retention rates
While creating strategies to attract leads is essential, it should not be your company’s 100% focus. Instead, it would help if you prioritize efforts to make and retain loyal customers. As affirmed by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company, this is because even client retention of as low as 5% can grow your profits by 25% to 95%.
Poor customer service can throw your patrons off and even make them switch to a different partner. Since these brand advocates bring more to the table than regular clients, you have to delight them every step of the way.
4. It can affect even the best employees
A back-to-back poor service experience can affect not only your customers but can also do severe damage to your team. Always remember that running a business is a two-way street. You also have to check in on your staff to ensure that everyone’s performing well and that the team’s morale is good. Otherwise, you might risk losing your best assets in the team.
5. It can sway revenue growth
All the consequences of poor customer service mentioned above boil down to your bottom line. Although experiences per client or crew may differ, your profit reports will depict how well your client interactions have gone.
8 Customer Service Mistakes You Should Avoid
Now that you know what lies ahead of poor customer service, it’s time to list all the don’ts you should avoid doing during operations.
1. Over-reliance on scripts
Scripts make a great guide to improve your customer service. It comes in handy when answering client inquiries, as it includes an outline guiding agents on what to say and how to say it.
However, relying on the script to the extent of reciting it word-per-word can come off as impersonal and unconvincing. If clients reach out for assistance, they need human support—not automated responses or template scripts.
2. Not active listening
Customer service is all about conversations. While a veteran support agent can quickly jump into offering a solution after the first few seconds of the call, it’s still important to let the customer voice their questions and concerns at their own pace. More than assisting, a complete customer experience also involves active listening.
3. General lack of business knowledge
Customers take time out of their busy day to ring customer service if they have any urgent queries. The last thing they would want to hear is an incorrect or insufficient response to their concerns. If your support agents keep piling up unsure comebacks, this can cause frustration and confusion among your clients.
4. Frequent transferring of calls
For customers, there are times when the agent they get connected to may not be the right one to address their issue—and that’s okay! However, repeated unsuccessful transfers can be irritating.
As a business, it’s vital your support agents know the proper workflows to guide customers to the correct personnel for assistance properly.
5. Not responding promptly
In this digital age, everyone wants instant answers, and that includes responses from businesses. Every second matters when clients are waiting in a queue. If a customer calls in and waits a long time for someone to assist them, only for their line to get disconnected, that can send them messages damaging your brand’s image.
They may conclude that a) you don’t care enough to service your customers and b) you don’t care enough to staff your business to handle your growing customer base.
6. Inappropriate tone or demeanor
Customers are quick to pick up on negative energy. Since communication is a key factor in customer service, it’s vital for customer support reps to always keep their reactions and behaviors in check when dealing with a client.
May it be the tone of the voice or word choice, train your support agents to always take the time to find the right responses to customers at the right timbre.
7. Overpromising yet underdelivering
Nothing is more disappointing than being guaranteed something and then getting the complete opposite afterward. When a support agent assures too much, like a quicker turnaround time or a better offer, customers might hold onto their every word. In business, only make guarantees you’re sure you can back up—nothing more, nothing less.
8. Not going above and beyond
While not committing mistakes can save your brand, going by the books and limiting yourself to greater customer service can harm your business. If sticking by the company policies and procedures can result in unsatisfied customers, that’s not good customer service.
Take care of your customers and go the extra mile to fulfill and delight them, even if it means going out of your usual way at work. Go above and beyond, if and when you can, especially if you know it’s worth it.
5 Simple Ways You Can Improve Your Customer Support Process
Ready to service your customers better? Below are some practical tips to help your customer service representatives and teams improve their performance and put their best foot forward.
1. Personalize your customer’s experience
Again, clients call for customer service because they want support from a human, not some written instructions a quick search online or a chatbot can provide. So take this as an opportunity to create unforgettable customer experiences by getting personal with them.
A study by Wunderman found that 79% of customers prefer to partner with brands that care about them. So if they allow you to, try addressing your clients by name or sending them personalized when necessary.
2. Service in multiple channels
Now, more than ever, people jump from one channel to another when communicating with businesses. There are many platforms to do business in so don’t limit yourself to social media alone.
Allowing your current customers and potential clients options to connect with you through their preferred platforms boosts your brand’s reputation and credibility. It also opens more avenues for your company to build relationships with the market, which can be beneficial in several ways.
3. Collect customer feedback
Asking for feedback is more than just making connections with your customers. You have to know the points where you’re excelling along with your areas for improvement. Constant feedback, positive or negative, allows for a more strategic growth plan that can help your business flourish in the long run.
4. Strengthen your skills through training
Learning is a never-ending process, especially when it comes to working. As a business owner, encourage skill training sessions within the team. Map out coaching programs on areas where the feedback results are showing the group needs improvement.
Practice empathy building as well to better connect with your clients. You can even hold knowledge refreshers about your products and services to gear your agents for future calls.
5. Keep your employees engaged
As another key player in the game, you have to look after your staff. Aside from offering them training to refine their performance, satisfy your employees with breaks now and then. Organize engagement activities and open a vehicle for anonymous suggestions to ensure they’re just as happy and content as your customers.
Drive Your Business Forward with Excellent Customer Service
Your customers are a crucial part of every business cycle, and keeping them happy should be your utmost priority. When done right, a great customer experience can lead to many wins for your company. Think improved brand trust and awareness, more loyal and new customers, and higher revenue score.
If you want to drive your business forward, partner with a company offering top-notch inbound call centre services. To cover all your customer service needs, check out Select VoiceCom and start keeping customers happy today!