Why customer care is vital right now!

In today’s economy keeping customers happy and getting them to buy more often is now essential. Happy and successful customers are the lifeblood of any business. They are what transforms your growth from a funnel into a flywheel. So, what are the key areas to focus on?

While we know there are some brilliant examples of exceptional above and beyond customer care from our clients, there is always room for improvement. The demands of the last two years have certainly impacted customer care and resources have been stretched, but it’s important now to look ahead, put remedial steps in place and ensure that the customer really does feel like they are king!

Here are a few reminders to help you keep your customers feeling happy and buying from your business and not your competitors:

Recognise that people buy from people

If you rely on telephone sales, then one key component of customer care is to offer a name to establish a real and personal connection. Revisit your call handling practices and ensure that attention to detail is applied to every stage, including the very first greeting.

See it through

Unreturned calls and poor follow-up practices cost business – not just in terms of lost revenue but also reputation. Have a system for ensuring all calls to your business are followed up. Nothing upsets customers more than being ignored. Make sure all calls are followed up promptly – it’s lost business if they are not!

Make your shop window transact

Websites are the shop window for many businesses and marketing teams spend considerable time and money driving prospective clients to them. So, when web traffic turns into enquiries, it’s important it’s met with a timely response. If you have online enquiries, make sure you follow them up. Consistent enquiry handling is key.

Test all of your ‘get in touch’ forms on your website and your general enquiries email. Do they work as they should, are they passing enquiries to the right place and is there room for improvement?

Embrace live chat

Many smaller businesses do not offer any form of webchat and of those that did, responsiveness is hit and miss. A recent survey showed 50% of chats were responded to within 30 seconds yet the other 50% weren’t answered at all!

Customers expect communication with their suppliers to be easy, almost instant and increasingly 24/7, so it’s important to offer a variety of channels. Live chat has the potential to deliver the quickest wins when it comes to customer experience. If managing it in-house it can be time-onerous and inconsistent, or conversations aren’t recorded centrally.

Consider an outsourced service

There are many companies who offer this service, just search “Outsourced live chat”.

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