What an opening.
The customer experience is all the rage right now. We’ve all heard the statistic that it is expected to surpass price and product as the No. 1 brand differentiator by 2020.
But what if we told you that you’re overlooking one of the most important parts of the customer experience?
While you’ve been focusing on your website’s UX or email nurture campaign, you’ve forgotten about your customer service and the impression that leaves on your customer relationships. As the master of customer service and experience, Shep Hyken had some advice on customer service management to share at last week’s Social Media Marketing World. Hear what he had to say below:
Manage the Moment
Every time your customer comes into contact with your business, there’s an opportunity for you to form an impression. Today, this includes every channel you do business on. There’s Yelp reviews, Facebook comments, emails, tweets, etc.
You need to own the moment.
If it’s a miserable moment, you have an opportunity to show them that it was still a good idea to do business with you. If it’s a mediocre moment, you have an opportunity to show them that you can go above and beyond. If it’s a magic moment, you have an opportunity to inspire loyalty. Just be above average all the time.
“Customer amazement comes from consistent and predictable ‘above average’ engagements.” @hyken Click To TweetEngage
So much of customer service is reactive. There’s an issue or a comment, and the brand responds. But you need to be proactive and do social care continuously. For example, if you’re in the restaurant business, share recipes or kitchen tips to engage with your customers. That’s one way you can provide proactive service that helps people before there’s an issue.
Respond to Everything (and Quickly)
Respond to both the good and the bad. You might not need to be as quick with responding to the good comments, but you need to respond to it. Say thank you. Give likes.
The average response time if someone complains on Twitter is seven hours. Facebook is a little quicker. But that’s an average, some people are faster, some slower. But your goal needs to be to jump on it right away. Think about your own experiences. If you have an issue, you want a response immediately, not hours later.
Manage Reviews
Every industry has their version of a review site. Reviews aren’t just for TripAdvisor, Yelp, or Google. There’s Glassdoor, Capterra, G2Crowd. There are thoughts about you out there that have been posted publicly, and you need to manage them – and respond to them.
Be Real
Show your customers that you’re human. Be funny. Be honest. Be transparent. Your customers will have a more enjoyable customer experience with you if you show that you have a personality.
Offer Self-Service
People want to be able to help themselves. So let them. Give them the ability to solve their own issues. Publish your knowledgeable. Enable the crowdsourcing information by creating customer forums. Post videos that show people how to use your products or answer frequently asked questions. It’s good for your marketing, too.
Create Convenience
Convenience is the entire experience. From learning about your brand or product to purchasing it to using said product. So, look at your own buyer journey and customer experience and ask yourself: “how easy is it to do business with you?” If it’s not as easy as Amazon, you have work to do, according to Shep:
“Even though you compete with your competition, your customers compare you to the best service they ever received from anyone.” @hyken Click To TweetConvenience Is the Way to Loyalty
To inspire more loyalty from your customers, you need to make them feel taken care of, create convenience throughout the customer journey, respond to their concerns and praises, be authentic, constantly engage, and more.
Satisfaction is a rating. Loyalty is a feeling.” @hyken Click To TweetLearn more customer service and experience tips from Shep by reading our full interview with him, or purchasing his book: The Convenience Revolution.
