5 Tips to Improve Customer Service

Have you tried everything under the sun to drive traffic to your website and get customers in the door? Are your current marketing campaigns bringing in interested prospects, but failing to convert? Instead of quickly moving on to a new marketing strategy, consider reflecting on your internal processes.

A great place to start is customer service. The best marketing strategy and slickest website won’t convert visitors to paying customers if your customer service stinks. It’s just that simple.

Is your customer service truly the best it can be? Here are some tips to optimize your customer service.

1. Offer multiple ways for customers to contact your business. If you only provide goods and services to a local area, make sure you have a local phone number. Serve a larger area? An 800 number is a good idea. As consumers become more tech savvy, consider using a texting number. Make sure customers can easily reach you via email as well.

2. Develop a mobile website. I’ve discussed mobile websites in previous posts, but the importance cannot be ignored. If your website does not work well on mobile devices, your customers will move on to a competitor. 9 of every 10 smartphone searches ends in action. A mobile optimized website will help you capture these sales.

3. People are talking about you online – Listen up! Check your blog often for new comments. It’s important to respond to all comments – both the positive and negative ones – to manage your company’s reputation. Also check your Yelp account, Google+ pages, and other sites for positive and negative reviews and respond accordingly.

4. Be responsive on social media. A recent study shows that Twitter users expect a response from a company within 1 hour. It’s important to remain connected to your followers online. If they don’t hear back from you in a timely manner, they may take their business elsewhere.

5. Watch and learn. One of our healthcare technology marketing agency’s favorite examples of outstanding customer service comes from Zappos. When a customer needed an out of stock pair of shoes for her important business meeting, Zappos went out to a competitor’s store, purchased the shoes, and delivered them to the woman’s hotel room in time for her meeting. Would you go to the same lengths for your customers?

Maintaining customer relationships is simple. If they like how they are treated, they will repay you with loyalty. Make sure all your employees are doing the little things and going the extra mile to make customers feel welcome, satisfied, and appreciated.

For more marketing tips and business insights, visit the Clarity Quest Marketing blog.

Author: +Chris Slocumb