Suppose you’re running an e-commerce business successfully, and have a large customer base. One day, one of your loyal customers faces a problem with product delivery and calls your customer support. If the communication between them doesn’t go smoothly, or he’s dissatisfied with the service, he’ll most likely talk about it with people around him, which will damage your reputation and impact your customer base severely.
Such is the power of customer service. Nowadays, customers value user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX) as much as the product they buy. That's one reason why many businesses make time to search for a contact center in the Philippines and other top BPO countries who can help them with their customer service needs. Stellar customer service adds more value to your business and reflects well on the reputation of your business.
Let’s look at some tips your customer support can adopt to make your e-commerce business thrive.
Always Listen To Your Customers
Whenever a customer calls customer support for any grievance, they are desperate for you to listen to how he has been wronged. This is when it pays off to outsource your customer service to an experienced call center.
The most important job of customer service is to listen to everything customers have to say. Even if you realize midway that the problem is not at your part, let them finish. Half of the customers’ irritation usually goes away by the time they finish talking. If you let them say everything they have to, they’re more likely to listen to what you say in response.
Offer A Sincere Apology
It's not merely saying "sorry," but the way it is said that counts. When a dissatisfied customer contacts customer support, he is subconsciously looking for empathy and consolation. Don’t apologize to your customers right away. Listen carefully to their complaint, and tell them that you understand. Your empathy will instill in your customers a sense of comfort, and make your business more trustworthy for them.
Provide Timely Service
For any product-related issue, customers tend to use Google rather than getting in touch with customer support. This is because they believe Google will answer their queries faster.
If you can convince your customers to choose your service over Google, you win many points for your business. But how can you do that? Live chats, and auto-generated messages are a great place to start.
Send the visitors a creative “Hey! How can we help?” when they’re on your e-commerce store. Such initiatives make customers rely on your services and generate trust for your brand.
Make The Communication Seem More Humane
You must remember that all your customers are humans first. Humans crave real connections. When a customer is directed to a customer support agent in an automated call, he breathes easier.
In your conversations with your customers, make it a point to address them by their name time and again. This makes the conversation seem more personalized. Even on reviews and other platforms of communication, address them by their names, and give them your name as well.
Take Criticism Sportingly
A large portion of your business’s reputation lies in how well you can take your customers’ criticism. It’s not essential that you make no mistakes because we’re all humans and can make mistakes sometimes. Your customers understand this, too. What’s essential is that you accept your mistake, take the criticism positively, and work actively towards fixing the problem of your customers. How well your customer support deals with such a crisis says a lot about your e-commerce business.
Stay Informed Beforehand
If a frustrated customer calling you is faced with basic questions like his name or the order he’s talking about, his frustration can rise considerably.
As the ecommerce customer support, your job is to calm your customers down, and not rile them up. If you’re already familiar with what your customer is calling about, you can steer the conversation in a more productive direction. There are much software available on the Internet that can gear you with the customer's details almost instantly.
Update Your FAQ Page Regularly
Referring to the FAQ page of an e-commerce store is a more convenient alternative for both the customers as well as the customer support team. However, you must ensure that your customers can find solutions to all the common queries on the FAQ page. One way to go about it is to update your FAQ page at regular intervals, especially in case of a new addition to your business, or an alternation in your policies.
Strong Customer Service Conclusion
Stellar customer service can help your e-commerce business in more ways than you can imagine. Not only does it elevate your brand image, but it also encourages the customers to endorse your business to others, leading to the overall growth of your brand.
