How Businesses Can Come Back from a Bad Customer Service Experience
If you’re ready to win back a customer from a bad customer service experience, then you first have to understand that the ball is heavily in YOUR court. If they’ve submitted an official customer service complaint or have written a bad review online, you have to do your best to demonstrate your loyalty to them.
According to a research report by Zendesk, nearly 50% of customers stated that they would easily start buying from your competitors if they’ve had a bad customer service experience with your company.
Remember what it was like to get a zero on a test in grade school to be averaged in with your 100s and 90s? It would quickly drop your grade point average and you’d look at your new average like, “NO WAY!” It only took 1 zero on a test to drop your average quickly. Keep that in mind during the remainder of this article because that’s the effect that 1 bad customer service experience can have on your business rating (to them).
It’s hard work to retain customers and keep them loyal to your brand, and it takes next to nothing to lose them.
Consistent with the report’s findings, if you can gain understanding between how you service customers and the loyalty that builds throughout the entire buying process, then you’re winning.
For example: if your customer’s first point of contact with your brand is an answering service that answers your business phone number listed on your website, you must make sure that the call center you’ve chosen has a friendly and helpful staff. You don’t want a team of grumpy and overworked employees answering your phone line. You want a team that is dedicated to providing top-quality customer service.
“Good customer service experiences drive loyalty.”
The customer experience trends report proves that a bad customer service experience will destroy the loyalty between a consumer and a company. So, what else might cause a “bad customer service experience”? Let’s review.
Top 7 Customer Service Complaints
In the section of the report that discusses the frustrating aspects of a poor experience, the following factors were mostly pointed out by consumers:
Lack of friendly customer service/support
Repeating information various times
Inability to reach a live customer service agent
Long hold times
Unable to find information quickly
Lack of information on websites
No available support through preferred contact method
We live in a 24/7/365 world and customers want to be helped at their available time. If a customer has an inquiry after your normal business hours, they don’t necessarily want to wait until the next day to have their issue resolved, their question answered, their appointment booked, or their order placed. Consumers want you to be available to them when they’re ready and they don’t want to repeat information over and over which is why implementing CRM (customer service management) programs is so crucial to building loyal relationships with your customers. CRMs allow you to keep a relationship history with your customers so that you always have their past inquiries, orders, complaints, etc. readily available.
If your company simply can’t stay open and available to your customers around the clock, then partner with a reputable answering service that will deliver the same level of customer service as your audience is used to when you’re not available.
Customer Service Best Practices
Consumers are used to being connected to the internet and communicating throughout their entire day. Speaking to family and friends is just a text message away, checking email is a few taps away, and they’re scrolling and browsing on social media at various points of the day. This constant connection has developed a sense of instant gratification in people and just that instantly, they want your business to service their needs.
In terms of customer service best practices, you can make it a point to answer your customers as quickly as possible. This social habit that has caused people to expect instant responses is the #1 way to improve bad customer service experiences.
A few other ways to enhance your customer service practices are:
Ensure that your customer service team is answering phones quickly and constantly checking emails.
Make sure your website has an FAQ section that provides answers to the most common questions.
Always provide personalized service and speak to customers using their first name. Check your CRM as you speak to them so that you have an idea of their background with your business.
Always provide realistic expectations and turnaround times so that they’re never disappointed.
If your business is struggling with providing excellent customer service during and after your business hours, feel free to contact us to review how our team can step in to service your customers when your staff is not available to do so.