When it comes to running a successful business, it would be impossible to overemphasize the importance of customer service. As the owner, you need your clients to feel that you are taking their needs seriously. Service is also an area where technology can have a major impact. Gone are the days when phone customer service was the only way to check up on your clients. By using modern communication programs to provide your customers with the information they need, you can boost your brand’s reputation and save your business.
Remote agents and live chat support can be particularly useful for maintaining positive customer relations. If you outsource your customer relations department and invest in remote work, you can cut costs while improving your company’s reputation.
Why Improved Service Can Save Your Business
When businesses find themselves struggling, it’s easy to assume the worst. Some owners mistakenly believe their entire enterprise is doomed to failure. In reality, a few adjustments could bring about a significant change in fortune. Customer service is one area where simple modifications can make a big difference. If you’re worried about the future of your enterprise, it might be time to update how you treat your clients. Here are the five main reasons why an improved service model can arrest your business’s decline and set you up for future success.
1. Reduce Frustration For Customers
In our lives as consumers, we’ve all experienced the type of horrible service that makes our blood boil. Navigating a labyrinthine website or waiting on hold for hours can drive a person crazy. When a business’s service makes us so upset and angry, we’re likely to carry a diminished view of the company with us into the future. As a leader of your own enterprise, you need to make sure that as few customers as possible suffer these frustrations. Your company’s reputation depends on it.
2. Increase Value Of Products And Services
If customer satisfaction is the primary effect of improved service, then the secondary effect is adding value to whatever it is that your company is selling. A decent product becomes much more valuable when the company follows up the sale with excellent service.
Imagine, for example, that you are running an outdoor outfitter. If you sell someone a fishing rod for $100 but offer no additional service, the customer might feel cheated. If, on the other hand, you set up the pole for them, give them a tutorial on how to use it, and provide them with a list of local fishing spots where they can try their luck, the product will probably be worth even more than the $100 that appears on the receipt. Making your products more valuable will improve your brand’s reputation in the community. Eventually, you could even raise your prices in accordance with your excellent service, thereby increasing your revenue without losing sales.
3. Retain Current Customers
Even clients who enjoy your products will be quick to seek out an alternative after a negative interaction with your service department. As customers jump ship, you’ll have to work even harder and pay even more to win new customers over. Your brand’s reputation will suffer as long as this unfortunate cycle continues, and you’ll eventually find it impossible to replace the customers you’re losing.
No matter how good your company’s products may be, you’ll never manage to grow your customer base without quality service. It’s always cheaper to keep the customers you have than to invest in marketing to expand your base of clients. You should be aiming to build on top of a steady foundation of existing customers who are loyal to your brand. Earning that loyalty requires excellent service.
4. Improve Employee Morale
Frustration and dissatisfaction tend to spread like a disease. That’s why poor service can act like a boomerang and come back to make your company’s employees less satisfied with their jobs. When customers receive poor service, they quickly become agitated, impatient, and even angry. This creates a tense environment for everyone at the company. Your employees will quickly grow tired of dealing with the same frustrations and complaints. They’ll succumb to the constant stress around them and become short tempered themselves. This, in turn, will have a negative effect on the whole company’s culture. Workers will come to dislike their jobs, and employee retention will grow harder.
If, on the other hand, customers are happy with the service they receive, they’ll send good vibes oscillating through the company. Employees will feel proud of their work, and they’ll enjoy being a part of the team. This increased satisfaction will go on to improve productivity and employee retention. Remember that customer and employee satisfaction feed off each other. Happier customers create happier workers, who go on to make the customers even happier. Starting such a cycle at your company could allow you to save your business.
5. Improve Your Brand’s Reputation
There can be no overstating the importance of maintaining a good reputation for your company. Even in the pre-internet days of previous decades, news of poor service could move quickly through a community. In the modern era of internet reviews and social media, reports of a few mishaps can spread like wildfire. If your company fails to provide adequate service, there’s a good chance that some of your marketing targets will hear about it. Not only will bad service cost you a particular customer, but it will also cost you the potential patronage of whoever they tell about their experience.
While bad service can bury your company in a mound of negative reviews, good service can help build the type of positive reputation that will make your customer base expand. When customers have a good experience, they’re likely to leave positive reviews, post on social networks, and tell their friends. This customer-driven proliferation of your brand will achieve much more than the best marketing campaign. You’ll find new customers arriving every day, and you might even be able to cut down on your marketing expenses. This is one example of how investing in service can pay for itself down the road.
How To Improve Service
Once you’ve recognized the importance of service, you’ll have to make adjustments to your company that will bring your service to the next level. Here’s how you can provide the type of service that does credit to your brand.
Take Advantage Of Technology
While phone customer service is still important, modern businesses should make full use of new technology to improve their client interactions. Live chat support through services like Zendesk can provide customers with clear information right on their browsers. Your customers are bound to appreciate the convenience Zendesk provides. Email newsletters represent another fantastic method for reaching out to customers in an unobtrusive way.
Use Social Media To Your Advantage
To really communicate with your customers, you should meet them where they’re at. These days, most consumers can be found on social media. Younger customers, in particular, are accustomed to communicating on their favorite platforms. By providing service through the messaging components of social networks, you’ll allow clients to get the information they need in the digital spaces where they feel most comfortable.
Outsource Service
Modern offices are often hectic, busy places. The people running your company might be so caught up in their everyday affairs that they allow service to fall by the wayside. You might also find it financially difficult to hire the extra on-site staff necessary to provide the type of service that would bring your company success. To improve your service without busting your budget, you should outsource your service to remote agents.
Modern technology makes remote work easier than ever before, and you should have no trouble keeping virtual workers aligned with your company’s overall goals. A remote call center will provide effective and efficient phone customer service, while remote agents will have no trouble contacting clients through email and social networks. Remote work, with its home offices and personal work spaces, can also boost productivity around the company.
Hire The Experts Who Can Bring Your Service To The Next Level
Some businesses would like to take the steps mentioned above, but they don’t know where to start. Setting up a remote call center and organizing live chat support isn’t easy for people with limited experience in these areas. That’s why you should hire experts to help you arrange the necessary features. ValuedHR, with years of experience and impressive resources, has specialized in customer service since its inception. They can provide you with all the essential tools to reimagine your company’s service and build long-term success. Schedule a 30-minute consultation to speak with a representative.
