Some shops make the mistake of thinking that once the order has been placed, there’s no need to worry about what happens to the customer. A big mistake, and that’s when things get serious. Because there’s no guarantee that a first-time customer will automatically become a loyal customer. And for customer loyalty, the quality of customer service is essential. This leads me to emphasise the following points, which for me are the basis of the basis.
Listen to your customers, again and again
We often think we know what our customers want. Of course, we can get a rough idea, especially by analysing the data collected on our site or during preliminary market research, but this is not the whole story. To ensure that your customers are satisfied, you need both quantitative and qualitative data. And to collect the latter, there’s only one solution: listen to your customers when they talk to you, and encourage them to give their opinion if they don’t speak for themselves! If you listen to your customers, not only will you be able to solve their immediate problems, but above all you will be able to refine your offer in the longer term.
Choose the best tools
Listening to your customers is all very well, but there’s not much point if it falls on deaf ears. And if you don’t want to lose the messages, the only solution is a good CRM. What is a good CRM? Above all, it’s a CRM that’s tailored to your needs! If we take Salesforce as an example, it will take you several days to configure/count the beast properly. There’s no point in breaking out the heavy artillery if you’re a very small business… At least, there’s not much point if you don’t take the trouble to customise the settings to suit your needs. In short, before choosing your CRM, analyse your exact needs so that you can offer the best possible customer service.
Put the right people in charge of customer relations
Having the right tools is one thing, having a team that uses them well is quite another. If your team is small, it’s still relatively simple, but if you entrust the task to several people, they need to have the right attitude. The right attitude starts with a consistent message. Imagine a customer being confronted with different people giving contradictory messages – what damage will that do to your brand image? And to be consistent, you need to assemble the right team, which will respect procedures, train new members over time and, above all, communicate effectively both internally and externally. What are your tips for ensuring impeccable customer service?
What are your tips for ensuring impeccable customer service?
