Have you ever seen the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci? What’s so great about it? Like every painting, it is also a painting! Right? But no, we don’t feel the same when we see the portrait of the Mona Lisa.
Good customer support is like art. It’s tough to define it, but we know when we come across one. However, it may be easy to differentiate between good and poor support, but who’ll decide it? Customer service is subjective. It is possible that an effective rep may not be able to resolve a customer’s query. Likely, poor support may solve someone’s problems.
Nevertheless, irrespective of industry, well-organized customer support can be ensured by following some basics. In this article, we’ll discuss some essential elements of customer service that distinguish them from poor support. So, let’s check them out below:
1. Responsiveness:
Walk in the shoes of a customer: you bought a product, and it was working well but suddenly it malfunctioned. You didn’t do anything wrong and reached out to a support agent. Firstly, they made you wait and then took time to escalate your issue. Frustrated, right?
Responsiveness is the key to customer service. By making your customers wait, you’re swaying your customers away. Customers only connect to a support agent when they’re facing a problem. A prompt reply can assure customers that brands care about them.
Not being able to respond to customers affects their satisfaction and loyalty towards the business. So, receptive customer support is essential for the long-term success of any company.
2. Proactive Approach:
Sometimes, customer reps may face trouble while resolving a query. They may not have a “by the book” solution to a problem, leading to customer dissatisfaction. Such situations demand reps to think out of the box to solace the customers. Going out of the box may take some time, but it’s better than providing no solution.
There’s a probability that even after putting in all their efforts, reps might fail to come up with a solution. In such instances, management must be informed to avoid such incidents taking place in the future.
3. Provide Ease Wherever Possible:
Customers appreciate when they’re given more than they asked. It’s also a great way to show how much you care about your customers. With time, customer service has become the face of brands, the frontline soldiers defending their reputations. Now, it’s up to businesses to make customers feel catered.
Let’s look at an example: Spectrum is based in the USA and provides quality internet, TV, and phone services. With time, their Latin customer base grew exponentially. Considering the growth, they came up with a brilliant idea.
They took the initiative to assist Latin customers in their mother tongue, Spanish. With their exceptional services, customer satisfaction stretched, knowing they don’t have to communicate in a foreign language if they ever needed any assistance.
It’s not the case that Latin Americans don’t speak English. Their English might be as fluent as a native, but the whole point was to make customers feel more connected while talking to a rep.
If you’re a Latin American, you can visit Spectrum servicio al cliente to experience their extraordinary support services in your native tongue.
4. Long-Term Solutions:
Sometimes, reps don’t understand how important it is for customers to have long-term solutions. Preceding quantity over quality, support agents try to resolve queries in haste. They end up providing short-term solutions, resulting in customers coming back over and over again.
Providing a lasting solution might take some time, but isn’t it better than a customer contacting a support agent so frequently? In addition, an enduring solution ensures customers that reps are adept and possess detailed knowledge about the company’s products.
5. Ask For Feedback:
Many companies don’t take customer feedback seriously. But some do, and feedback works for them in three ways. Firstly, customers feel esteemed when they’re asked for their opinions. They regard such businesses as serious in their affairs.
Secondly, with honest feedback, companies can evaluate what should be improved in their products. Thirdly, if companies act on the feedback, customers will definitely observe the improvements.
So, feedback can do wonders for a brand that follows a customer-centric approach.
6. Be Patient:
Support agents need to understand that customers reach them in plight. They may already be frustrated because they paid for something that is malfunctioning. So, it seems understandable for them to be in such a gruesome mood.
Dealing the customers with care and concern can help calm them down. Moreover, customer support agents should try to be more personalized with the customers. Addressing them with their first name, and acting swiftly to understand and resolve their issue may encourage them to become friendly.
So, reps have to be patient because it’s the only key to dealing with frustrated customers.
7. Follow-Up:
Usually, customers don’t expect support agents to check on them. They may be surprised if you call them after a week to see how the solution you provided is working for them. Follow-ups are the easiest and best way to ensure a healthy connection with customers.
Keeping a check on them makes them realize that your brand is just a call away. Furthermore, it also increases the trust level among your customer base.
Closing Up:
Since consumer behavior is always changing, there can always be room for improvement in support services. However, by following the essentials, it is guaranteed that you’ll be able to handle customers with great care. Along with these points, emphasize training your agents and integrate tech as much as possible. After all, support services are as vital as any other business operation.
