How often have you experienced lousy service when flying? Perhaps you were one of the last to board an airplane and had to check your tiny carryon bag due to lack of overhead space. You don’t blame everyone else on the plane for bringing their luggage on the plane with them when the alternative is costs money to check a tiny bag. Greedy airlines. Doesn’t matter. The end of the day, you will have to go to the baggage claim to wait patiently (time wasted) crossing your fingers that your bag actually shows up. Ugh.
Is that how you want your customers to feel about you?
With the amount of effort and money that is required to gain the attention of a potential buyer, and then converting them into a customer, the last thing you want is any interaction to be negative. You want to every step from awareness to purchase to customer service to be satisfying, delightful. Your goal is to get them, then keep them. Customer retention.
How do you keep customers?
“Delight your customers on a personal level.” – Emma Siemasko
Interact with them. Engage with them on social media. Have a conversation. Build a community; encourage them to share their experiences and ideas. Make their experiences with you so easy for them they will become advocates.
And make your customer service experience exceptional.
“Saying Hello doesn’t have an ROI. It’s about building relationships.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
According a survey conducted by the Customer Contact Council, the single most important factor in increasing customer loyalty is reducing the amount of work the customer has to do to get their problem solved. Including additional incentives, such as a discount or free product, only has a marginal impact – so focus your efforts on solving the problem promptly while making it as easy as possible for your customer.
For some, resolving a problem may involve a single point of contact, for others, it may require escalation, speaking to someone more technical or knowledgeable about your product or service offerings. 26% of consumers have experienced being transferred from agent to agent without any resolution. Companies who utilize the many-points-of-contact method may find great benefit to evaluating the entire process of helping a customer - such as making their front line as knowledgeable as possible to minimize the steps to resolution. Consider automating steps if possible, such as filling out contact forms. The fewer administrative steps the quicker you can focus on the problem and gain resolution.
From the 2010 Customer Experience Report by RightNow, the biggest reason people stop doing business with a company is due to a poor customer service experience. However, research shows that a great experience not only influences where they chose to buy but also how much they chose to spend! 85% of consumers said they would be willing to pay more over the standard price in order to ensure a superior customer experience.
In addition, 79% of consumers that had a negative experience with a company told others about it, whereas 55% of consumers recommend a company because of its customer service.
Positive customer service not only helps with customer retention, but those customers would also PAY MORE for your product to ensure they obtain exceptional customer service when needed.
Providing your customers with information, and responding to their questions and resolving a problem quickly helps you to achieve a positive experience. Oftentimes you can use your experience with customers within customer service to add information to your FAQ’s and tips you can share with your community. By sharing that information and making it easy to find, you are allowing customers to obtain a resolution quickly without requiring any direct contact with your customer service team. Yes, that is helpful. And you have made it easy, which results in a happy and loyal customer.