We’ve said it countless times – the key to staying ahead of your competitors and becoming a leader in the market depends on one thing – superior customer service.
32 per cent of dissatisfied customers will stop doing business with the company in question. That’s a high amount, therefore, you want to try to avoid customer service disasters.
Here are 5 Tips for Avoiding Customer Service Disasters
Communication, communication, communication
Clear communication is essential as this avoids misunderstandings on both sides. Train your team on customer service communication and ensure they understand your company’s mission. Follow the tips we included in our post on “Improving Communication with Customers”.
Keep your team up-to-date about your products or services
It’s important for all team members to be on the same page about your products and services, especially your customer service team. Customers always want to get the latest information; teams should be ready to answer questions consistently and informatively.
Set time limits
Set a time limit for solving customer issues and answering customer questions. Most customers expect to receive a phone or email response within 24 hours. To help your team respect time limits, suggest the use of calendar notifications or help desk software with email automation.
Help your employees help customers
Work closely with your employees and give them feedback on how they handle customer service operations. Create standardized email templates to ensure they are sending out accurate information. Record phone calls and give your customer service team advice on how they could have handle the call better.
Stop them before they spread
Customer disasters spread like wildfire. When one problem isn’t solved immediately, it creates others. Take a look at this story about how Target managed to turn a what seemed to be a simple customer loyalty tactic into a disaster that caused the customer to switch retailers.
We would love to hear about how your organizations goes about avoiding customer service disasters – share them with us!