Posts Tagged: customer service tips

How to Stay in Touch in an “Always On” World

answering services

The right telephone answering service will be an expert at helping you employ a variety of communication methods to help you stay top-of-mind with your customers. At certain points of customer contact, it is crucial to know and employ the best communication methods for the purposes of positive customer response and conversion rates.

Here are a few tips on how to create and use the best direct response tactics:

Create a Customer Journey Map as Part of the Communication Plan

This will detail every step of your customers’ contact with your business so that you can align your communication with them to sync with each step in their process.

Communicate As Your Customers Do

Pay attention to how they communicate with their audiences and your company, and model your communications with them in the same way.

Create a Communication Plan to Address Customer Pain Points

Pain points that customers experience when interacting with your business can actually be opportunities to grow your business with them if they are handled well by staff. Creating a communication plan to address each of these is an important step in making that goal a reality.

Create a Communications Plan for Leveraging Your Customers’ Best Experiences

With the advent of social media, customers’ recommendations have become even more important than ever before. Create a communication plan to incentivize your happiest customers to spread the word.

Create a Communications Plan to Entice Back Inactive Customers

Chances are good that these prospects can be brought back into your company’s fold with the right contact and incentives.

Support Customers’ Preferences for Call, Text and/or Email Responses

Give your customers as many options as possible when it comes to communicating with your company.

Validate Your Customers’ Purchases

Make sure to have a communication plan to thank customers for doing business with you and highlight the positives of their purchases.

Keep Communication Simple

Make sure that all of your options for customer communication have as few steps as possible.

Timing is Crucial

Are you communicating with your customers when it is most important that they hear from you? Make sure that your communications don’t lag behind customer activity or desired activity.

Build Helpful Content into Your Communications Plans

When you offer information that your customers likely will find helpful in running their business or their own marketing efforts, they see you as adding value to their interaction with you and you build brand loyalty.

Make Sure Your Customer Communications are Consistent

Customers want to know that they can depend on you no matter what the reason is for contact with your company. Make sure your communications with them are consistent in terms of voice, frequency, and quality.

 

For more than 40 years, Responsive Call Center has created and managed customer communications plans for numerous industries, including medical, legal, commercial services (plumbing, HVAC, etc.), real estate and property management, construction, government agencies, and charities. Our team of live operators are available all day, every day to handle your business calls the same way you would; you will see the difference when your business no longer relies on answering machines or automated phone systems. Our highly trained staff will make sure you never miss your customers’ calls. Contact Responsive Call Center to discuss the ways we can help you manage your calls.

Making Your Customer Service Memorable

The differences between call center agents with a great attitude for customer service and those whose attitudes need some improving are often very clear. Because the effects of both are going to impact your business, it’s important to not only look for certain traits in those you hire for the job but to also train people with certain behaviors in mind. The following tips highlight how to ensure your agents are successful at providing quality customer service.

The Ultimate winning traits when it comes to customer service.

  • Knowledgeable Agents
    Successful call center agents know the company and what it offers well. Make sure that your staff is sufficiently trained and updated regarding products and services regularly. An agent who is prepared to answer your customers’ questions will deliver memorable customer service.
  • Organized Agents
    Organized agents can navigate customer issues using the tools they are working with because they are set up and ready to be deployed.
  • Rapid Response
    Agents who provide a rapid response to customers are ready to take the next call as soon as they finish the one prior. This gives customers a smooth and pleasant experience when they contact your company.
  • Attentive Listening
    Successful call center agents are completely engaged in their conversations with customers, actively listening to the points they are making so they can provide solutions that match customers’ expectations as closely as possible. Making your customer feel like the agent’s number one priority is key in providing memorable customer service.
  • Patient Agents
    Call center agents must always be prepared to encounter frustrated customers. In these situations, being patient means allowing customers the opportunity to explain their situation in full, not reacting negatively to them, and calmly providing an explanation and solution.
  • Clear Communication
    Using industry jargon to explain solutions to customers can become confusing. Make sure to clearly communicate situations and solutions in clear, layman’s terms – keeping answers concise and as free of extraneous information as possible.
  • Empathetic Interaction
    Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another’s position to understand their viewpoint. An empathetic interaction with the frustrated customer involves reassuring them that their issue is understood, that it will be given attention, and the specific steps that will be taken to resolve it – as well as a timeline for doing so.
  • Positive Attitude
    Displaying a negative attitude toward customers will always have negative results. No matter how upset customers can be, agents must keep a positive attitude that centers on using positive language that reassures customers their issues will be resolved.
  • Adaptable Agents
    Because change is a constant factor in call center agents’ daily experience, they should have the ability to easily adapt. They need to be prepared to handle a variety of customer demands, switching between channels, and technical issues. Because each customer interaction is different, successful call center agents need to adapt quickly and go with the flow and provide the best solution possible for each customer.

Responsive Call Center’s team of professional and experienced call center agents knows what it takes to provide excellent customer service for your callers. Contact us today to discuss how our team can partner with your brand to provide memorable customer service experience for every one of your callers.

Ultimate winning traits for customer service