In this day and age, many people have come to expect poor customer service from the companies with which they interact. This is unfortunate, as excellent customer service should be the rule rather than the exception. Businesses that fail to provide a high level of service may find it hard to maintain steady profits and a good reputation. Here are a few ways to show some love to your customers and increase customer loyalty.
1. Give Back
Provide your customers with incentives and rewards just for doing business with you. Offering coupons and freebies on a future purchase are great ways to get customers to do repeat business with you. Referral programs, online savings and free samples are always appreciated. Other ways to give back to your customers include providing longer store hours or greater access to customer representatives over the phone or online.
2. Get Feedback
Customers want to be heard. This is why review sites such as Yelp are so popular — people love to give their opinion, whether it's good or bad. Capitalize on this by providing your own feedback channels. Allow customers to contact company representatives through your website, general phone number or social media pages. Using after-purchase questionnaires and surveys is another effective way to get feedback from customers. Use multiple feedback channels to learn what your customers want and expect from you.
3. Respond Quickly
Gathering feedback is a great way to improve customer service, but only if you respond to negative feedback quickly and efficiently. There should be dedicated personnel managing feedback channels so that when a complaint comes in, it can be handled immediately. Make it a point to see each and every complaint through to completion. Even one sour customer can spread negative word of mouth that can greatly damage your company's reputation, so take great care with each and every complaint.
4. Add a Human Touch
Modern technology is a huge part of peoples' lives, but many customers still yearn for a human connection. Give that to your customers by manning your phones with human representatives as often as possible. So many companies utilize automated systems that when customers call your line and are greeted by a human, they are sure to be pleasantly surprised and impressed. It's not enough just to have human greeters; train customer service representatives to be empathetic and sensitive to customers' needs and concerns.
No matter what industry you are in, great customer service is essential to your success. Constantly think of new ways to show your customers some love. Paying attention to your customers' needs and wants, providing incentives and rewards, listening to feedback, and responding quickly are all great ways to amplify your customer service and increase your customer loyalty.
Photo courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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