Ways to Revitalize Your Customer Service

No matter how well designed and produced a product is, a customer will eventually experience a problem with it. The same outcome is the case even if the business has a near flawless operations system. There is no company out there that is mistake or complaint free. Because of this, customer service must be a priority. Many companies have come to understand that a great product can only succeed if a customer values their interactions with them. If a company can prove to the customer that their time and money is appreciated, they likely will retain that person as a customer moving forward. Colleen Barrett, the president emerita of Southwest Airlines, summed this up, "To earn the respect (and eventually love) of your customers, you first have to respect those customers. That is why Golden Rule behavior is embraced by most of the winning companies."

All this being said, how does a company revitalize their customer service? We connected with ten different business experts in order to gain their thoughts surrounding this. 

Establish the culture

Jeremy Gardner is the CEO of MadeMan, a beauty company specializing in skincare products for men. He believes that customer service operations will be at their peak if everyone within the company participates. 

"Regardless of what a person does within your company, they contribute to the experience that the customer has. Your first concern should be the opinion that the customer holds of your company. If you want to positively influence that opinion, everyone in your company should be onboard with providing the best experience possible. Stress to your employees that customer satisfaction is a top priority and instill measures which further this. Customers will notice when they are made to be important."

Active listening

Diamond Mansion is an online retailer offering designer diamond jewelry at low prices paired with high quality customer service. Their CEO and founder, Omid Semino, advises every company to regularly pay close attention to what a customer is communicating. 

"A customer is more than just another number that walks through your door or visits your website - they are human just like you and should be treated as such. When complaints, questions, or opinions are voiced, this person wants to be understood, not just passed through a system. Ask your representatives to take on a mindset of learning rather than accomplishing tasks. They should also ask follow up questions that attempt to gain a better understanding. Doing these things will show the customer they are being listened to.

Points of contact

Customers interact with companies in a variety of ways and each of those should be analyzed to ensure that the interactions are positive and informative. Bite is a personal hygiene brand which boasts a variety of products entirely free of plastic. Their founder and CEO, Lindsey McCormick, suggests this approach. 

"Between ads, sales pitches, transactions, product use, and customer support, people will come into contact with your company in so many ways. If one or more of these things go south, it can push the customer away. Take the time to review each of these aspects for potential errors or areas of improvement. If you want your customer to think highly of you, the ways in which they connect with your company should be top tier."

Focus on efficiency

Brandon Lurie is the Marketing Director of Y Meadows, which offers AI customer service automation. He considers the speed and effectiveness of customer service to be defining characteristics. 

"The last thing a consumer wants to do is wait around for their questions to be answered or help to come their way. Everyone dreads the phone calls where they sit on hold for what seems like an eternity. Some don't even bother to withhold, and that's a lost cause at that point. When a consumer has their needs met promptly, they're quick to notice this. Investing in customized customer service automation is a good solution to meeting the increasingly demanding customer expectations. As more channels to share experiences emerge, a negative customer experience can do more damage to a company's reputation than ever before. This presents a great challenge for customer service teams - and this trend isn't stopping anytime soon. AI enables customer service teams to serve their customers, employees, and partners, faster and more efficiently than ever before."

Keep it in house

Span Health is a data driven, health-coaching app that targets sleep, diet, and exercise. Their CEO, Patrick Samy, believes that the most successful customer service is built around a team that is part of the company, not a for-hire call center. 

"It may be cheaper to outsource your customer service representatives. However, doing so results in problems. Primarily, because those answering the calls do not directly work for you, they are far more likely to be unenthusiastic or to misrepresent your company. These things can paint a poor picture of your company to your clientele. Furthermore, it's very easy for rifts in relationships to happen between your employees and those you've outsourced to. This can severely bog down any customer service efforts."

Improve employee effectiveness 

Technology or a lack of training and knowledge can get in the way of an employee performing their job well. This can hurt customer relations regardless of how or why they take place. Lashkaraa offers modern and luxurious Indian clothing. Their CEO, Sumeer Kaur, advises this. 

"A frustrated or uninformed employee is one who will not perform well. Be sure that all the necessary technology elements for an employee to be successful are modern and in working order. On top of this, your employees should receive any necessary or beneficial training related to interacting with or dealing with customers. Ask your employees what they need in order to serve customers better. You might be surprised at their answers and you should notice an improvement in customer satisfaction."

Deep understanding

Tirzah Shirai is the CEO of Blink Bar, is a beauty salon specializing in eyelash extensions. She suggests that everyone involved with interacting with a customer is extremely knowledgeable about the company and products to ensure that the customer can be satisfied. 

"Whether a customer is seeking to understand a product before purchasing or needing instruction while using it, questions will arise. Your employees are the ones who are expected to have the answers and if they don't, it will reflect poorly on your company. Before your employees ever interact with a customer, give them all relevant information to be the most helpful to your customers. If a customer has a unique question that an employee cannot answer, they should be aware of resources where they can locate an answer."

Ask for feedback

WANTD is a resource for researching and purchasing shoes. Their president and co-founder, Ricky Nariani, considers seeking out input from past and potential customers to be a highly influential method to revitalizing any customer service team. 

"A customer is really the only one who can define if their request for help was beneficial or not. Companies should reach out to these people to get a grasp on what went well and what needs to be improved. Email and phone surveys, online help forms, and chatbots are all ways to ask the customer to voice their opinion. Ideally, if there is a general consensus throughout the information gathered, companies should act on it. Customers know what they want and those needs should be met for satisfaction purposes."

Individual experience

The more a customer is catered to, the more likely they are to engage with and appreciate it. If a business knows who a customer is and what they like, this can be used to their advantage. La Blanca is a swimwear brand of which Karim Hachem is the vice president of ecommerce. He believes personalizing customer service is the way to go.

"People take notice when companies personalize their experience. If a help line or even advertisement is too general, it won't be received well, if at all. People are happy to go elsewhere if they feel a company is simply after their wallet. An example of good personalization is when someone calls a company and the service person has a record of past interactions and solutions."

Offer incentives

Lisa Odenweller is the CEO and founder of Kroma Wellness, a company offering nutritionally rich and healing food products. She advises performance and time based bonuses to customer service employees as a way to boost morale and increase performance. 

"Because of the nature of the job, many customer service employees can become burnt out or disinterested in their job after a period of time. This can lead to poor interactions with the people who make your business profitable. If you're looking to combat this, monetary incentives for a job well done or staying in a position long-term is a wonderful solution. You could also offer time off bonuses or the ability to work from home. Dedicated employees create a much better atmosphere for your customers."

It is in the best interests of a company to solve the problems of its customers and find ways to meet their needs consistently. If the spending of these people dries up, then the business will soon cease to exist. Serving the customer is what a business should strive to do. Author and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, put it best, "If you make a sale, you can make a living. If you make an investment of time and good service in a customer, you can make a fortune."