Want business to grow? Keep your customers happy 

There are no shortcuts to good customer service. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will have to drive this better to sustain growth and retain customers.

Research says seven out of 10 customers will tell hundreds of others about bad service and every second customers will switch brands after a bad experience. On the other hand, 25 percent of customers are willing to pay a higher price for great customer service. Almost nine of 10 customers say they will continue to buy from companies that offer good customer service.

The upside of delivering good service is well documented and yet few companies excel at it. As businesses look to bring growth on track after the coronavirus blow, they must realise that a loyal customer not only brings just steady business but also more customers.

It is far cheaper to retain a satisfied customer than acquire a new one. Moreover, when you have a good customer service process, the data you collect can help in coming up with new services and products and also build brand messaging.

To keep your customers happy, improve the service process. Your brand is only as strong as the experience customers have with you.

Here are a few suggestions that can come in handy:

1 Use high technology but do not lose high touch. Technology is offering a lot of including artificial intelligence (AI)-based problem resolution. Many companies using AI, however, have only half-baked solutions, resulting in poor service.

Use technology wisely for information and analytics purposes and do not interact with the customer beyond the two steps. Use it for total customer information when someone interacts with your service agents via email, WhatsApp or phone, and to capture feedback.

Invest in high tech since many customers will be happy with interactive self-service, while others may prefer human interface.

It doesn’t matter whether tech or humans fail to make your customer happy–you will end up losing big time. Use customer service as your competitive advantage. This is not immediately imitable and you probably can build a strong reputation and brand on this basis.

2 Train your staff to think and act and not merely follow the instructions on the screen. Often service agents are monotonous. They just don’t listen to the customer and offer a standard reply.

Tech solutions will provide a full view of the customer’s history. Use that to think and find a solution to their problems—context is critical to make things work better.

The worst situation is when the service agent doesn’t know about the customer or the product. Most customers, as many as 80 percent, expect companies to know about them by giving them a reference point.

Yet, most big companies, which include banks and airlines, do not provide such data to their service people.

Don’t make a customer repeat their problem. Good training and tech support will address this issue and you will have more happy customers.

3 Focus on customer scenario mapping and design solutions for every moment of truth. We have worked with a tool devised by a friend and colleague, Patricia Seybold, for a better customer experience. You draw the entire customer journey from the knowledge and consideration to purchase and after-sales service.

At every moment of truth, think of multiple scenarios and find solutions to improve customer experience. By involving a diversified group of people from the company and a few customers, you will be able to design wonderful solutions without having to pay market research agencies.

Customer service can be quicker today via Twitter. SMEs must have a social media service for the customers to reach out to them before it spins out of control. We have found that almost 40 percent of customers prefer reaching out to companies for service issues via social media.