The phrase “the customer is always right” didn’t appear out of thin air, customer service really is the most essential element to any business. Get this right in your business and you will see marketing costs drop and a wider choice in talent to recruit from and a happier workforce.
To ensure you are providing a 5-star experience we suggest mapping out all of the points of contact a customer has throughout your buyer’s journey. Each touchpoint is important, and you want to ensure that your customers continue to feel valued. Below are some of our top tips on how to optimise these touchpoints and create a better experience for your customers.
1. Chatbots
Engaging with your customers as soon as they land on your website is a great way to show that you are there to help them and creates a personalised experience. We recommend using your customer service representatives name to create the feeling of a natural conversation. Make sure you are encouraging your customers to ask questions and guide them to specific help pages. Most chatbot services will also help you create a playbook of frequently asked questions and automated answers. This means that even out of hours, your customers are being cared for.
By initiating a productive conversation early on in the buyer’s journey, you are building rapport and speeding up the sales process.
We love - Drift
2. Phone
In B2B marketing, the make or break step is that first phone contact. According to research, calls to businesses are expected to exceed 169 billion per year by 2020 and are 10-15 times more likely to generate a successful sale or follow-up activity than digital form submissions. Customers want to speak to knowledgeable, proactive employees, who care about their queries and provide them with a solution.
If you are a small business, having a dedicated outsourced call handling service will make you appear a lot bigger and more professional. It also ensures that you have someone who can speak to your customers when you’re not available.
Here at SmartPA, we have a dedicated call handling team, who can support your business. Find out more on our dedicated call handling page.
3. Marketing Emails
As your customer moves through their journey, you should let them know you’re there with them. By integrating your CRM and Email Marketing system, you can create an automated journey and a personalised experience for your customers. Are they signing up to your newsletter? Have they made a purchase? Are there similar products you think they might like? Let them know you know!
By keeping in touch, you are encouraging repeat purchases, and are able to feedback to your team what content your customers are engaging with, how they like to be contacted and when.
Learn more about our email marketing services.
We love - Hubspot
4. Social Media
It’s easy to forget the social in social media. It really is a two-way communication channel where you can speak to your community immediately, and they expect to speak to you within the same timeframe. 90% of people surveyed by Sprout Social have used social in some way to communicate directly with a brand.
Many companies are hesitant to engage with social media as the fear of negative conversations or posts on your page can be disheartening. But, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Addressing negative comments publically is a great way to show your transparency. By consistently being empathetic, accountable, and helpful on your social media channels you can diffuse the situation and discourage other users to jump on the bandwagon.
Download your free social media content calendar template.
We love - Hootsuite
5. Post-purchase
A lot of businesses often miss out on this really important step. Sending satisfaction surveys to your customers show that you value their partnership and feedback. This can be automated, requires minimal set-up, and allows maximum visibility into your pain points.
We love - Trustpilot
Are you ready to take your customer service to the next level?
Contact us to find out how we can support you on the ground with call handling and social media or more strategically with research and project management.
