Creating a strong and constructive relationship with each of your customers is almost always a key part of running a successful business.
Maintaining their trust through well-managed customer service is hugely important for encouraging customer loyalty and repeat business – it does, after all, make any transaction so much smoother when each side of a partnership is happy!
We all know that all relationships need time and effort to help them grow and, unfortunately, there are lots of ways to ensure your relationship with your customer breaks down. We’ve listed some examples below with the aim of helping you avoid these pitfalls.
So how do you lose a customer?
As well as understanding how to gain customers, businesses must also know how to retain them. It’s well documented that it can cost as much as five times more to gain a new customer than to retain one. If you’re losing customers, it’s important consider why they might be leaving. By knowing how you can lose a customer, you and your team will at least be able to take the necessary measures to ensure that they are receiving the very best service to give them the greatest chance of staying. Here are some of the main reasons:
Once they make contact, customers will want a quick and simple solution to their query. Rather than starting a fresh conversation each time they call, your customer-service team should have the means of keeping up to speed on each inquiry. This may mean updating software systems for a seamless interaction. Make sure your agents are familiar with processes and policies, so they don’t contradict one another or confuse the customer.
Even if you’re at the other end of a telephone line, looking and acting like somebody who takes pride in their job can reflect a positive attitude on the phone or on email. Its often tempting to treat unhappy customers as if they are an inconvenient problem to be got rid of, but a bit of empathy and understanding can go a long way (even if you’re struggling to find it in the face of a barrage of criticism!).
Keep hold of your customers
If a customer has chosen to spend money with your business, they will want reassurance that they have made the right decision. In a world where the competition is often just a click away, it’s more important than ever to ensure you’re not giving them a growing list of reasons to leave. Give them confidence early on that their decision was sound and even if you make mistakes in the future you will have built up goodwill which help you keep them as customers, even if things go wrong.
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