If you’ve ever had to deal with customer support at just about any major organization, whether it be gaming mogul company Electronic Arts or Blizzard Entertainment, or even worse – calling or dealing with technical support from Microsoft, you’ll notice that some of these companies (especially Microsoft) have the worst customer service in the world according to numerous TrustPilot.com reviews and even the consumer affairs.
It didn’t always use to be this way, but one thing has been made certain – their customer service sucks! You can ask them a question about what happened to your computer after a Windows Update, and they tell you it was your fault and that you did something to corrupt your own files, right? Wrong. Well, don’t be that guy! And here are some tips that can keep your customer service up to par.
Table of Contents
1. Don’t Outsource
Stop outsourcing your customer service and try bringing more projects back in-house for better results.
While we know that it’s often a cheaper solution to outsource, hiring freelancers for everything from writing to graphics and web design, or even a virtual assistant, there must be limits and standards. If you’re based in the U.S. and the majority of your customers are American, then you should consider hiring Americans for your customer service. Many businesses have gone downhill after outsourcing to other countries because the services are cheaper, but if you’re losing customers or they aren’t happy, is it?
2. Answer Those Calls!
To really make a positive impression and to score customer service brownie points, always answer the phone.
Understandably, you may have trouble answering your phone calls when hundreds every hour are rolling in. One thing you can do is incorporate a message center, hire a call center, or one better – invest in a VoIP service provider that can deliver local solutions so you can always get your messages, answer phone calls from anywhere, or even have scheduled web conferences with your customers.
3. Increase Your Security
Beefing up your security will not only keep you safe, but it keeps your customers’ info safe as well. Allowing you to add to your customer service arsenal.
Having your systems up to date and completely locked down from viruses, ransomware, and other hijack attempts are extremely important in data protection these days. Many small businesses think that it’s simply to protect their own data – this is a huge mistake. Investing in a solid data corruption solution or local cloud storage company can make a huge impact on your customer’s data protection as well, and this should be your main priority.
4. Customers First
Another great tip to knock your customer service out of the park is to listen to your customers and fix their problems promptly.
There are two ways to handle customers’ needs and problems. The first is to operate on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the other is to handle things on a tier-based necessity (almost like a triage) basis. Of course, the main thing is that the customers come first, and they’re always right (even though they may be wrong). The best thing you can do is to make sure you listen well to their needs and requests. If they are worried about their data, or more importantly – if they have a problem that needs to be resolved, it must be handled promptly.
Always make sure that you make your customers feel wanted, not needed. The need is there because no business operates without having customers and clients, but they need you to do what you have to do to make them feel satisfied first and foremost.
5. Improve Your Website
Believe it or not, your website design affects not just your web traffic. An outdated design could lead to a poor user experience, thus making your customers less likely to use your services or your products.
With WordPress becoming the standard, there are a billion sites out there that are just out of the norm and completely outdated. This is especially true when it comes to local businesses. Everything needs to be optimized for mobile devices first, and then you can work from there to create your desktop mobile sites. Want to do one even better? Hire a freelance web designer, and then utilize your managed service provider’s web hosting package. This will give you an edge against your competition on the market – and can even help your business grow into more than just a small business!
Conclusion: It’s Not That Hard
One of the worst things you can do is hang up on a customer (without plenty of warnings), so definitely don’t do that – like the IRS, every state’s Unemployment office during the pandemic, or companies like Microsoft (yes, they have hung up on their customers for no reason, not just got disconnected). Aside from this, you can do everything above (which Microsoft, Apple, and other large online organizations have forgotten, it seems), and your customer service should be fine!