Customers are the heart of any business, so making sure they’re happy should be your top priority. As technology advances and consumer behavior adjusts accordingly, it’s important to keep up with customers’ changing expectations and needs.
Though statistics will help you understand today’s consumers, you’ll need to take action in order to make a difference in your customer service. Below are three telling stats on customer service paired with tips on how your business can make the most of the information:
1 | A 5% increase in customer retention rates can heighten your profits between 25% and 95%.
New business isn’t the only way to boost revenue. Satisfying customers so that they keep coming back can have a major positive impact on your bottom line.
Tips for Customer Retention and Satisfaction:
Offer Loyalty Rewards
Loyalty programs or special deals offered exclusively to customers incentivizes clients to stick with your company, as they’ll receive the products and services they need at a discounted price. Customer-only rewards show you appreciate consumers’ business and make a repeat purchase in their best interest.
Engage Through Email
While emails from companies tend to have a reputation for being spammy, you can use email to your customers’ advantage in a non-invasive manner by providing value in your messages. From thoughtful thank you notes to order confirmations and tracking information, there are plenty of ways to send personalized, beneficial content straight to your customer’s inboxes.
2 | U.S. customers with a poor customer experience will share their woes with around 15 people, whereas those with good experiences tell around 11 people of their encounters.
Both word-of-mouth and review sites can drastically affect public perception of your brand. Unfortunately, American consumers are more verbal about their negative experiences than positive ones.
Tips for Managing Online Reviews:
Respond to Negative Reviews the Right Way
First things first, you should never get defensive. Recognize your fault and present a sincere apology, and potentially an explanation when appropriate. You may also choose to offer some reparation to make up for a particularly unfortunate experience, such as reimbursement on a product or service. Lastly, if the situation is truly rectified and a once-angry consumer seems especially pleased with your response, you can request that they remove the negative review to prevent damage to your brand’s reputation.
Encourage Good Reviews
Do you have a longstanding client who’s consistently over-the-moon with your company’s performance? Don’t be shy about asking them to post about their positive experiences! Whether it be a customer testimonial or an online review, glowing words from current or past consumers are a powerful form of social proof that showcase your business’s value. You can even offer extra motivation with discounts or gifts for those who rave about you online.
3 | A whopping 90% of consumers report that “immediate” response from customer service is highly important to them, with “immediate” being described as taking place within 10 minutes.
Fast response rates matter a great deal to today’s consumers, with many hoping for a reply within just 10 minutes of them reaching out.
Tips for Reducing Response Rates:
Automate Emails
Even if someone reaches out during non-business hours, you should let them know you’ve received their message and when they can expect a response. Setting up automated emails with a brief thank-you message, details on when you’ll get back to them, and relevant links to further their knowledge in the meantime is a great way to keep up response rates when employees aren’t available. Although these emails may not answer a specific question, they showcase your company’s commitment to swift and thorough communication.
Implement Website Chat
Whether you utilize live chat or chatbots (or a combination of the two), making online chat easy and available on your website is a particularly helpful tool in today’s day and age where many are hesitant to pick up the phone. These chats provide a convenient place for customers to get answers to their questions STAT without them ever having to leave your site.
A customer-centric approach to operations will help satisfy current consumers and bring in new clients alike. Both your reputation and customer retention rates depend on delighting customers, and customer service plays a large role in how satisfied consumers are with your company. In today’s fast-paced world, you’ll need to keep an eye on customer behaviors and trends and account for them in your strategies in order to provide continuous value.