Want to know an industry secret for online shopping? Customers are more willing to spend more money on your brand if you provide the best possible customer service experience. You want to be the concierge to any need they may have and solve their problems to the shopping experience with your brand is as smooth and easy as possible.
Customer service is a fundamental part of the business. It’s often the first interaction a customer has with your company, so it’s essential to get it right. Even though providing excellent customer service can be challenging at times, you can take some simple steps to ensure your customers have an amazing experience every time they interact with you.
In this post, we’re going to share essential strategies for delivering exceptional customer service every time!
What is Customer Service?
Customer service is the process of providing assistance to customers. It involves the steps a company takes to ensure its customers are satisfied with the products and services they purchase. Every interaction via phone, email, chat, or others must be a positive one so your organic word-of-mouth marketing continues to grow.
Quality customer service will inspire brand loyalty. You want to boost customer satisfaction as they shop with your ecommerce business, so they return regularly to make additional purchases, suggest your items for friends and family, and build a reputation that you are sincere and trustworthy. Here are some essential strategies to get started:
1 – Personalize Your Service
It’s easy to forget that people are individuals and not just a name on an order form, but being a little personal and human goes a long way toward building trust and establishing relationships with customers. That means using their names (and remembering them), asking questions about their interests, and ensuring they feel like they’re being heard when you talk with them, even if it’s just over email!
Numerous online tools can help you do this. With some innovation, you can ensure every interaction your customers have feels like it was meant for them alone.
2 – Be Responsive & Available
Being available and responsive to customers is the most crucial way to deliver exceptional customer service. They want to know you are present, even when it’s the middle of the night. So, you need systems in place to answer their questions as quickly as possible, regardless of time zone.
It’s simple: if you’re not there when someone needs you, they won’t be happy with the results of their interaction with your company. And if they’re not satisfied with it, they may choose another option next time around. Utilize tools to overcome this challenge.
3 – Prioritize Transparency & Honesty
You can’t be transparent and honest if you don’t know what your customers want. So, take the time to listen to them and really hear their responses. Once they’ve told you what they want, don’t assume there is only one solution or answer.
If a customer asks for something unusual or outside of your usual processes and policies, consider whether it might benefit both parties if you were willing to make an exception in this case.
Don’t be afraid of saying “no.” If someone asks for something that doesn’t work within the parameters of your company or product offerings, be honest about it, even if this means disappointing a buyer. Your ability to remain professional and responsive breeds trust that you are a legitimate company trying to carve out a niche market.
4 – Go Above and Beyond
So, what does going above and beyond mean? Going above and beyond is doing what you know you should do. It’s taking the extra step or two to go that extra mile for your customer.
It can be as simple as making sure they’re happy with their purchase, or it could be something much more involved, like helping them resolve an issue they’ve had with their product or service (even if it wasn’t your fault). The key here is that you’re going above and beyond what the customer expects of you.
Why should we go above and beyond? Because it makes people feel good! They’ll remember how great it was when someone went out of their way for them, so next time they need something – whether it’s another product from you or not – they will come back again.
5 – Monitor & Measure Customer Service Performance
Monitoring and measuring your customer service performance is an ongoing process. It’s essential to know how you are doing and what you can do better to deliver exceptional customer service every time.
You will want to measure response times, customer satisfaction scores, and loyalty levels (if applicable).
Data analytics and customer order information will help track how often customers engage with your brand.
6 – Implement Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is the never-ending process of making small incremental changes that lead to significant results. It’s not just about improving customer service, but also about improving everything from your processes and systems to your culture and people.
If you want an ecommerce business that delivers exceptional customer service every time, then continuous improvement must become a priority for everyone in your industry. Start by asking questions like:
- What does excellent customer service mean?
- How do we know if our customers are being served well or poorly?
- How can we measure whether we’re effectively meeting their needs?
7 – Leverage Live Chat
Live chat is a great way to increase conversion rates and reduce support costs. It’s also a great way to improve customer satisfaction, brand awareness, and overall company growth.
Live chat has become one of the most popular ways for businesses to interact with their customers online because it provides an opportunity for real-time communication between you and your visitors, which can be very beneficial when it comes down to increasing conversions or reducing support costs.
At OPMC, we provide a robust live chat option through our Customer Support plugin for WooCommerce. This creates a chat for guests, subscribers, and all other customers that you can track with logs to measure your success. This is just one more way we continue to improve the services and products we make for all our fantastic clients.
8 – Invest in an Omnichannel Strategy
With the rise of omnichannel platforms, connecting your website and live chat is becoming more important than ever. Integrating these two channels allows you to offer a seamless experience for your customers.
But it doesn’t stop there. Your customer service should extend to social media, email interactions, guest blogging, packing slips, and any other customer touchpoint between your brand and buyers. You want a unified positive experience from end to end concerning your ecommerce business.
9 – Identify & Fix Online Store Issues
When your website is down, you lose money. The same goes for your customers. If they can’t access their purchase or find the information they need to decide about buying from you, they’ll go elsewhere.
Listen closely to your customers during any interaction to fix those tiny issues that are causing them to second-guess purchasing from your brand. Even something as small as using a different font could lead to exponential revenue growth.
Conclusion
We hope that we’ve been able to give you some inspiration for how to improve your customer service. While these tips may seem simple, they can greatly impact your bottom line if implemented correctly.
Remember: it’s not just about delivering exceptional service – it’s also about being consistent and available.
Be sure to leverage our powerful Customer Support plugin for WooCommerce and elevate your ecommerce customer service features today!
Download Customer Support plugin for WooCommerce
This plugin creates a chat for guests, subscribers, and all other customers that you can track with logs to measure your success.
