Customer Service Mistakes Your Business Is Probably Making Right Now

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Getting customer service right every time is always a challenge. Companies never do it perfectly — not even the most successful. 

However, there’s often a big difference between brands getting it right most of the time, and brands only getting it right some of the time. Those on the lower end of the scale are making big mistakes, and it shows up in their revenues. 

Good customer service is all about showing the customer that you appreciate their concerns and that you can provide answers. Fundamentally, those are the only two things that really matter. 

In this post, we take a look at some of the customer services mistakes that you’re probably making and what you can do about them. Check them out below.

Failing To Respond Quickly Enough

Today’s consumers expect companies to respond to their queries within about 15 minutes, depending on the industry. Therefore, it’s no longer acceptable to wait until morning to process tickets. You have to do it now.

If you don’t respond quickly, clients will often think that there is something wrong with their computer, your business or your brand as a whole. They’re used to companies getting back to them quickly, so when somebody doesn’t, it comes as a bit of a shock. They wonder what they did wrong. 

Responding rapidly deals with this issue. It gives customers confidence and shows them that you care. 

Failing To Adequately Train Your Staff

Similarly, you might have enough staff to process 90 percent of calls within 15 minutes, but if you don’t train them correctly, it can reflect poorly on your brand. Staff training not only helps employees, but it also gives customers the impression that you only hire the best people to your business. Over time, this leads to greater levels of trust and a better reputation. 

Training customer service reps is actually quite easy. Most firms simply follow a process and eliminate guesswork. Reps avoid going off script and stick to various prompts, when asked. 

Of course, there will be situations in which customers require more than just robotic responses from staff. In this case, you might forward them to a smaller, elite team of reps who have the skills and abilities to converse with customers in real-time, and solve their issues rapidly. 

Failing To Collect Data

If you want to improve your customer service, collecting data is essential. Without it, it’s hard to see where you’re going wrong. You might also fail to recognise returning customers. 

Trying to record high-quality data manually is challenging. However, there are now CRM systems that automate much of the process for you. What’s more, they show reps critical information about clients, allowing them to streamline query processing and move onto the next customer faster. 

Companies should also use customer service data to improve the quality of calls. Automatic feedback collection is vital for any firm seeking meaningful improvements in its overall service quality. 

Failing To Implement Chat Functionality

Today’s customers don’t want you to force them to call you up via telephone. In fact, most would prefer to text you to resolve issues. 

Of course, texting is quite an inefficient way to communicate with customers because of the sheer amount of time it takes. However, live chat software is now taking up the slack. These digital solutions automate many of the common questions and queries that your reps get and provide answers, freeing up personnel. What’s more, they can forward clients to the relevant rep, based on their responses in chat. This way, they can avoid getting passed around between different people. 

Failing To Build Relationships With Clients

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Customer service isn’t just about troubleshooting. It’s also a critical opportunity to deepen relationships with clients. You’re not trying to explicitly sell them something when they call — that will likely aggravate them. Instead, you’re simply looking for ways to prove that you’re the best brand in your industry. 

In many cases, your best tool is good phone manner. The more you can ingratiate yourself by speaking in the right way, the more people will gravitate towards your brand. 

Furthermore, you can communicate with customers via multiple channels, linking them all together at the level of the agent. So, for example, reps should be able to see details from previous conversations on different platforms, such as messaging apps, email or social media.

Failing To Provide A Consistent Experience

Customers don’t like it when they get a great experience with one rep, and a bad one with another. Ideally, the quality of the service your firm provides should be consistent, no matter who they speak to. 

Naturally, there will be some variation in quality: inexperienced reps might make mistakes that more experienced ones do not. However, these differences should be small in the overall scheme of things. 

If necessary, assign reps to hierarchies. Beginners start with the simplest queries while higher-paid senior staff deal with the more difficult problems. 

In trying to create a more consistent experience, check that all your staff are using the same tools. Make sure that you link everyone together on the same CRM so that any rep can process any client. 

Failing To Understand Customer Behaviour

As a business, you won’t always be able to fully understand what’s going through customers’ heads. However, that doesn’t mean you’re absolved of any responsibility. Your job is to discover their pain points and then deal with them as efficiently as you can. 

If you run an online shop, for instance, check whether it is easy for customers to check out on mobile. Also look for payment issues. If there are problems, then resolve them immediately. 

If there are landing page issues, perhaps try implementing a small change in the call-to-action that you use. Often, just a rewording can encourage more people to click and benefit from your services. 

The more you can analyse customer behaviour, the better your understanding of it will become. Failing to collect negative feedback could lead to lower profits, poor cash flow, and problems with your company’s workflow.