Think that having a great product or service is enough to earn and maintain success? If you don’t back your offerings with great customer service, you could find it difficult to attract and retain customers. Treating your customers right can keep them coming back and even help you win them from your competitors.
That’s why it’s so important that you avoid these 5 major customer service mistakes:
- Being inaccessible—There’s nothing more frustrating than being unable to contact a company, whether it’s to ask a question, place an order, or file a complaint. If your customers can’t reach you, they’re going to leave you. You must be accessible to your customers and give them the one-on-one attention they desire. Make sure you’re answering your phone, responding to emails, and being available for face-to-face service if necessary.
- Under delivering on your promises—If you tell a customer you’re going to do something, you’d better do it. And if for some reason you can’t, you need to communicate with the customer, let them know what’s going on, apologize, and make the effort to rectify the situation. Broken promises mean broken trust, and when there’s no trust, your customers won’t come back.
- Not training your team—It’s crucial that everyone on your staff is properly trained in how to deal with customers. Customer service is an art, and your customers will not put up with employees who are rude, unknowledgeable, or just plain difficult to deal with. Train EVERYONE in how to provide great customer service so you can have consistently great service across the board.
- Trying to always be right—Sometimes, customers will have issues with your company. While your initial reaction might be to get defensive and try to win the argument with the customer, don’t. In many cases, you need to try to abide by the rule that the customer is always right (there are exceptions) and give them the benefit of the doubt.
- Not making exceptions—Yes, your company has policies for a reason, but if you’re not willing to bend the rules and make exceptions to keep a customer happy, you’re going to come across like a heartless, soulless corporation. Find ways to bend the rules if it means keeping a positive relationship with a customer.
What are some other major customer service mistakes companies make?
