For many businesses, the Pandemic knocked them a step or two backward. Many business owners had to become the frontline person for customer service as they had to reduce staff and workloads; Was this a wake-up call for you as a business owner? When business owners work on their business and not in their business they can lose sight of what the customer needs and wants in terms of customer service.
So, let’s look at Customer Service and put together a strategy that will work best for your company.
One of the top needs of customers today is Personalization. People are looking to be heard. For many, the use of AI has gotten so extensive and frustrating that customers will hang up or drop a business because of the lack of personalized service. This is an opportunity for the small business to capture those customers and it is a wake-up call for big businesses to go back to human interaction.
Money is tight and it’s only getting tighter for the consumer. However, many are willing to stay with expensive services so long as they feel their needs are being met. Consider a strategy that answers this need when assessing your customer service responses.
Are Sales and Customer Service in sync?
How well does your Sales Team listen to customers and are they bringing back what they learned to customer service? It is an important question to consider. Your sales team is your frontline and can do so much to ensure a better customer experience. People do business with those they like, and trust and your salespeople are your frontlines of service; for some businesses, their relationship with your customers can make or break your company. It is crucial that their knowledge of the service and product should always be reviewed. The answers to questions must be the same as what Customer Service’s response will be. Uniformity and consistency are critical to building trust with your client base. So, how do you sync your sales team and your customer service team? Start by having them meet and talk out what is being said on both ends of the conversation with clients. Get your sales team in the habit of asking some questions and truly bringing the responses back to customer service. Here are some questions that can be asked by sales:
1. What can we do better for you? This is a proactive question; it opens the door for the customer to share thoughts on services and give feedback that can be useful. It also shows your clients that you as a business are interested in doing your best work for them.
2. Have you considered a different service provider or product and why? This will allow you to see if the customer is shopping around. It also gives you the opportunity to sell an additional service or product.
3. If your service was up for renewal today, would you renew? Here is an opportunity to learn and grow given the possibility to express frustrations and to gain insight into where sales and or customer service is dropping the ball. It is essential to teach your team that these are learning moments and not a poor reflection on them.
Asking unapologetic, no-holds-barred questions at every stage of the customer journey—from day 1 forward—puts the customer at ease and makes them feel comfortable with you and your entire team. Being upfront with issues and conflicts can also build credibility and accountability. Customers appreciate strong partner teams who are ready to work through problems rather than sweep them under the rug.
