Customer service in a shorter sense is ‘’ making sure the customer is happy’’ and the longer answer is ‘’ ensuring the customer or client is satisfied with service or product provided’’ If you don’t take care of your customer service, another company will.

Customer service is vital for your company’s success as it is often the first and only point of contact your customers will have with your company. A good customer service will increase the profitability of a business in the following ways

1) Effective communication 

Effective communication plays an important role at all level of business processes. Customer service executives should possess excellent communication skills to represent the company. They should be able to clearly explain company products, services & policies to potential customers by maintaining a positive image of the company.by so doing, they will be able to convince and bring in more customers into the company hence profitability will increase.

2) Timely response 

Due to the easy access to the internet, anybody can access anything from anywhere in this world. This has impacted a lot on psychological behaviour of customers and increased their expectations for getting instant solutions.

Thus you need to be available for your customers 24/7 and should be able to respond to your customers quickly to grab their attention. Always remember that you’re being watched by your competitors and they would be waiting for even the smallest gap to grab your customer.

3) Product knowledge 

Product knowledge is the basic thing which should be possessed by customer support/service team. If your employees do not know about your product/service, how can you expect them to communicate it to your customers effectively and further solve their problem?

Having full knowledge of your product/service will enable them to act professionally and help them to handle any time of inquiries.

Basically, it will boost up their confidence to communicate with the customer and helps them to act like an expert.

4) Apologize 

I agree that customers are always not right. But remember they are your customer and the key to company growth. If you receive any complaint from a customer, don’t jump to identify mistake from their side and highlight it in your conversation to satisfy you’re ago.

First, apologize for the problem they have faced with your product/service. Once you apologize, you are already on a halfway to reduce your customer frustration.

5) Take care of your loyal customers

A loyal customer is the one who is being an invisible pillar to your company. Hence, it is always important to prioritize your loyal customer complaint and resolve it immediately.

Why it is important?
-Loyal customer acts as the best promotion tool for your products/service
-They have the power to bring down or rise the brand image of your company
– You can ask for more referrals
-Where is the value of your business? if you can’t take care of your customer, who already have trust in you.

6) Wow, your new customers

In the above point, I have mentioned the importance of taking care of a loyal customer but it doesn’t mean you can neglect new customers!

How did your loyal customer become loyal? Yes, it’s because of the way you treated them well from the start itself and the value you provided.

And now it is time to convert your new customers into loyal customers and repeat the same process as you did for your loyal customer.

This is how businesses build reputation and brand image in the market.

7) Build a strong relationship with the customer

Customers buy from people not from a business. It means customers tend to buy from the people they trust.

The key contact people in most of the businesses are the customer service team and building trust should be one of their core aims.

How to build trust with your customers?
– Always set the right expectations
– Under promise and over deliver
– Focus on building value
– Be there for your customers at their difficult time
– Go for an extra mile to wow your customers
– Always thank your customers

It is well known that good customer service is the best form of marketing you can get your hands on. Just don’t stop at the good, do great customer service employing the aforementioned tips.

8) Seek and promote customer feedback

Often, customers know your business best and have the best customer service tips. So, embrace and analyse customer feedback to improve customer service. Online reviews, social media feeds, surveys, and rankings give insight into what it’s like doing business with you. 

It can be hard to keep track of the many avenues for customer feedback.  A CRM can track and measure important customer service metrics, like Customer Satisfaction and Net Promoter Score (NPS).   Some even offer ‘reputation management. This feature helps you track what people are saying about your brand online. You can respond to customer concerns and share positive comments, all from a single platform. Collecting and leveraging customer input also ensures you never stray too far from the needs of your customers.