How small businesses can improve customer service?

A happy customer returns, whereas a disgruntled one stays away.  Worse, he probably bad mouths you, even over the net. And, you end up losing several good customers. Something a small or a mid-sized cannot afford in these economically challenging times. That’s why, it’s important to focus on the customer experience, before and after sales. Here are a few proven ways to improve customer service.

·       Listen carefully. Act immediately:

Your customer comes to you with a problem. He is already frustrated because he has just had a negative experience. You need to act fast to change this scenario into a positive and gratifying one. The best way to do this is to listen to your customer’s issues and sympathize with them. Then, you may apologize to them and go on with the grievance redressal process. People no longer buy things. They seek to buy an experience. A smart customer service set-up can help create a positive buying experience for your customer.

·       Invest in a Trouble Ticket Tracker:

It’s a web-based help desk solution. Through this system, the customer support team can track, route and manage issues at a much faster rate. As a result, your customer support team will be able to provide efficient customer service, resulting in satisfied and loyal customers.

·       Create a Troubleshooting Guide:

Most recurrent customer issues are minor and can be handled by the customer’s themselves, if given proper directions. You can create a troubleshooting guide with FAQs that answer the more common questions. This guide can be put up in your company website or can be printed out as a leaflet and put up near the check-out counter. With pro-active answers, a majority of customers will be able to handle simple issues on their own, giving you time to service major issues.

·       Get Feedback and implement it:

Almost all businesses have a Feedback box in-store and even have an online ‘suggestions’ link on their website. But how many seriously take in the customer feedback and implement changes is a question. If you want to improve your customer service, work on their feedback and make necessary changes. Do they want more shopping carts? Add a few. Do they find the exit to be too narrow? Try to make it a little bigger. Listen to what the customer has to say and follow-up with improving the customer experience.

·       Walk the extra mile:

Finally, be helpful even when it is not quite profitable. Oblige and be polite even when the customer is screaming at you. Add a personal touch to the customer experience by saying something nice. Hand-out a discount coupon for the next purchase or send a sorry note while remedying a complaint. Your customers will remember you for your positive, pro-active approach. And they will reward you by coming back to you, time and again. And bring in new customers, along the way.

About Author :
Vyom Munjaal is an internet writing professional who writes extensively on topics ranging from twitter to trouble ticket software. He works closely with a software development company Toronto which specializes in custom web application development services.