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While a poor customer service experience can put a buyer off for life, an outstanding one could turn them into one of your brand’s most loyal supporters. 

Today, we want to teach you how to make the most out of this opportunity to impress and retain your customers; delivering them a service so good they’ll want their friends to meet you.

Why make your customers feel good?

At Telbee, we like to think of the importance of great customer service in terms of the three Rs: retention, referrals and reputation:

Retention

Providing the best service possible for your customers means you’ll keep them engaged not only in the short term (as you successfully guide them to the checkout page), but hopefully for life.

This increased customer retention and loyalty keeps everyone happy, as it means a consistently positive shopping experience for your users – and more sales for you.  

Referrals

The more customers you can impress with your first-rate service, the more likely they are to tell their friends and family about you. And whether it be by word of mouth recommendations or glowing written reviews, positive customer referrals are key to attracting new buyers.

In fact, SuperOffice have reported that 52% of consumers would tell their friends and family about a bad experiences they'd had online - while 93% of people surveyed by Podium said that others' reviews and recommendations heavily influence their decision to buy from a brand.

Reputation

Lastly, good customer service is a crucial part of building a strong reputation among your customers.

If you want to become widely admired and recognised in today’s increasingly saturated commercial world, you’ve got to provide a service that’s a cut above the rest.

Essentially, when you invest time into keeping your customers happy, you’re investing in the long-term success of your brand. 

Let’s take a closer look at how you can start delivering your customers a five-star experience: 

5 ways to show your customers you care

#1 Contact your customers personally

The days where a personalised email or a live chat with a named support agent felt personal are long behind us. 

Nowadays, the way you choose to communicate digitally with your customers makes all the difference between a customer feeling like they represent a problem that needs solving, or a relationship that you value. 

In fact, Salesforce recently reported that 84% of buyers see being treated like a person as a vital part of winning their business. 

So, in order to win your customers over, you need to show them how much you care. 

Having the right person from your team give each customer a personal video or phone call would be an ideal way to make your customers feel heard and cared for. 

However, as that’s often hard to arrange, letting your customers reach out to you in their own voice - and sending a personal voice message back - allows you to convey to a customer just how much you value them, while still keeping communications straightforward and speedy. 

#2 Respect your customers’ time

Don’t keep your customers waiting on hold while you find the right person for the job - and don’t leave them staring at a chatbot screen while a support agent tries to figure out what’s going on with their order.

HelpScout reported that 66% of buyers say that the most important thing to them in any online shopping experience is feeling that their time is valued.  

And yet, SuperOffice found (from their own research of 1000 companies) that the average email response time for the top 100 retail companies is still a pretty lengthy 12 hours. 

Keep things easy for your customers by giving them a way they can reach out to you quickly - like leaving you a voice message or requesting a phone call from the right person. 

With voice tech, you can allow your customers to reach out to you in a way that’s convenient for them. 

When you give your customers the option to record you a voice message, they’ll be able to get their point across to you quickly, and can also receive a phone call back from someone who has already taken the time to look into their problem for them and is sure of how to help. It’s a win-win for everyone. 

Telbee’s Founder, Nicholas Phair, recently shared his story of how an experience like this with Google made him feel valued and inspired, saying:

“In this day and age, where we are bombarded by thousands of ideas, issues and to-dos, consumers, such as myself, are often lumped together into a single “the customer” category. What made Google stand out to me was their use of voice. Janine’s voice and very personal approach to me and my issue went such a long way.”

#3 Know your products inside out

One of the most crucial components of fantastic customer service is always being ready with what the customer needs. 

Become an expert on your product and how it works, so that when customers leave you a note or a voice message letting you know about their problem, it won’t be long before the right person can call them back with a genuinely helpful answer.  

#4 Collect and analyse your customer feedback

The best way to make your customers feel special is by taking the time to truly understand their wants and needs. 

This means you’ll want to pay attention to what your customers are actually saying - and the way that they’re saying it.  

To do this, give your customers every opportunity to make their voice heard; collecting feedback through online forms, follow-up emails and using voice tech to allow customers to leave recorded messages and suggestions for your team. 

By collecting and analysing your customer feedback, you’ll be able to fix recurring issues much more easily. This means less time tackling complaints for you and a more user-friendly experience for your future and returning customers.

Plus, when your customers send you a voice message because they’re genuinely excited about something, you’ll really be able to hear the joy in their voice. Make note of whatever it is that they’re loving - and be sure to repeat!  
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#5 Go above and beyond

If you’re reading this article, you’ll probably already have a fairly good idea of the basic rules of good customer service; listening actively, responding quickly and always delivering on your promises. 

But if you really want to make a customer’s day – even after there’s been a big problem with their order or account – show them you’re willing to pull out all the stops to make things right again. 

Even if this means spending a little more time or money on fixing your customer’s problem, keep a long-term mindset and remember that the more you do to help your customers, the more likely they are to return to your business – and to bring their friends and family with them. 

Sometimes, going the extra mile may not be in response to a customer complaint at all, but simply involve your team being a little nicer than necessary. This could mean anything from packing sweets inside your customers’ delivery boxes to bigger, more ‘shareable’ acts of kindness. 

For example, here’s one example of a message sent by a young boy, Luka, to Lego after he accidentally lost one of his figures:
 

And here’s the response he got from Lego’s customer service agent:

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Shortly afterwards, this touching story went viral on the internet, meaning that Lego’s seemingly small freebie giveaway helped build their reputation on a national level – likely raking in a lot more sales for the brand. A win-win situation for everyone! 

The final slice

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Don’t think of customer service as a necessary chore for your business. Instead, build your business around your good customer service. 

At the bare minimum, your customer service should be personal, fast and easily accessible. 

At your best, it will also see you going above and beyond to make your customers feel heard, appreciated and special.

To find out how our voice messaging platform can supplement your existing customer support channels, get in touch with Telbee today!