Make a Customer, not a sale: Understanding the Importance of a Good Customer Service

Have a look at the stats that show how usage of internet has increased greatly in corporate world in the last few years:

Graph Source: ida.gov.sg

The reason why these stats are incorporated here is the more the businesses have started relying on internet, an exponential rise in the demand of customer service has been observed. Therefore, it becomes important for the businesses to focus more on offering a good customer service support to their each and every customer … strictly!

A disheartening story

Just to bring your notice to the status of the customer service today, here’s a short story.

A known friend of mine runs a small IT company in Singapore. A few months back, his company faced a major database issue. Due to the power failure, the entire database needed an immediate backup for which he called their IT service provider customer support team.  

The first issue he faced before reaching the customer support executive was the continuous busy line. Almost after 15 minutes, his call got connected to an automatic machine voice asking him to press numbers in response to various options. And suddenly, the call got disconnected.

He tried making the call again, but was unable to do so due to the busy line. After struggling with the busy lines and those stupid options, he finally got the ‘opportunity’ to talk to their customer service executive.

My friend described the issue that his company was facing and thus asked for appropriate help. Beyond anybody’s expectations, the executive replied, “Sir, better for you to call your power supply company, we can’t help you in this matter“. “Are you mad?” screamed my friend! “My company needs an immediate backup to prevent loss. What the hell the electricity department would do in this matter?” The executive then apologized and assured him to offer their help.

But, my friend got annoyed when the executive asked him to send a mail to their company describing their issue. In response to this, my angry friend banged the phone and rushed to his IT support company to complain their owner. Then after, the issue got resolved and my friend’s company escaped from a huge loss.

But, is it what was expected from the customer support company? A Big NO.

I guess, my friend was still lucky enough to get a solution after bearing lot of annoyance. But, there are still numerous instances where people do not even get a proper feedback and their issues are left unresolved.

Point of view: What do the Customers feel?

A company reaches you somehow; impress you with their lucrative promises, offers and services and you hire them. But, when in need, you get the opposite of what you were being promised. You paid for a service still you received a much lower quality of service facing endless troubles. On your expectation receiving apologies and/or compensation, they ask you to wait. How does it feel?

When customers do not receive what they expect, they often opt for these options:

1. Leaving the company.
2. Switching on to some other option.
3. Spreading and sharing bad views and experiences to other about the company.
   

Ultimately, your company is harmed the most – loss of customers, loss of reputation.

Golden Rules for Excellent Customer Support

“All your world-class service or product is a complete waste, if you fail to meet your customers’ expectation.”

Focus less on making your product a hit; make your customer service a HIT.  Just don’t disappoint your customers. Below are the ways by which you can make your interaction with the customers perfect:

1. Empathy: Treat your customers the way you would want to be treated. Remember, you just laid the foundation, but you’re made a BRAND by your customers. Treat your customers as needy and not just stats.
2. Be Human: Incorporating an automated voice machine to guide the customers is a good way to minimize your burden, but, keep in mind, you aren’t a machine. Act like humans. Grasping those answers and using them repetitively is not always the requirement, sometimes you need to act according to the demand and situation. Therefore, be flexible, polite and reply in a human way.
3. Learn how to apologize well: Graciously accept the blame and admit your mistakes on Recognizing that the circumstances have turned for the worst. ‘Modesty can calm anger faster than a refund’. Giving refund back to the angry customers and letting them go is not the right solution. It’ll leave you with a Blackspot. Going an extra mile to make the situation correct and fulfilling the customer’s expectations will have more of a long- lasting impression.
4. Say yes, whenever possible: If you can grant a request, fulfill it. It is not always that you’re going to get requests every day that are outside of your normal operations. So, when you get an opportunity that doesn’t require a lot of effort, or time on your part, please your customers! Get your customers something that they rarely get anywhere else!
5. Honesty is the only Policy: Obviously, honesty today is the prime requirement for success. You must own upto your shortcomings. Accept what and where you lack. Also, be open to your customers in terms of your policies, competition, and issues. Don’t “bad mouth” the competition ever and never say NO. Make sure to suggest a mutually beneficial alternative, so that your customer doesn’t feel unsatisfied or helpless.
6. Go an Extra Mile: Imagine a situation where a customer calls in with a query; make sure you don’t just point him to the relevant steps to solve their problem. Rather, proactively send manuals or user guides that would anticipate potential problems. People will surely notice your extra effort.

Maintaining Online Reputation

Truly said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and just five minutes to ruin it.”

1. Be transparent: It’s hard to show your flaws, but understated weaknesses are a primary cause of bad reviews. Therefore, make your weaknesses clear, BUT explain them and do your best to overcome them.
2. Respond to every Review: Publicly thanking all the reviewers, regardless of how they’ve rated your business is a great way to maintain your online repo. it helps you communicate to existing and potential customers that you care and people believe that you are not only worried about your negative comments.
3. Collect as many reviews as possible: A large number of reviews tremendously help earn the trust of prospective customers and improving leads. Moreover, if you ever get a negative criticism, it can be seen in the context of your hundreds, or even thousands of happy customers.

 Significance of ‘Word of Mouth’ for your Business

“One customer well taken care of could be more valuable than a $10,000 worth of advertising.” Word of Mouth plays an important role in driving business. Over 85% of business is generated through word of mouth or personal recommendations. Being “introduced” is a necessity today. To be introduced to your potential clients involves recognizing, and trusting those who can do the introducing. Therefore, find ways to build solid, mutually rewarding relationships with people with whom you already have high-trust relationships and you’ll be building a sustainable and cost effective system to bring clients into your business.

CONCLUSION

“Customer Service is not a Department, it’s an attitude.”

If you already had a bad experience with a customer, take it as a past, but try to change their perception and feeling about your company. Convince your disenchanted customers to bring their trust back. Make all your customers feel important, special and involved. It’ll cost you nothing, but will develop loyalty.

“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

It’s all about your customers – the reason for your rise and fall. Keep them happy and satisfied, and they’ll upturn your longevity.

For more information, Kindly review this Info graphic: Customer Support