Have you ever been insulted by a customer service agent? You are probably wondering whether that is even possible. Well, it does happen. Customer care agents may be jolly and friendly over the phone, and when you pay them a visit in their offices, they are probably the most pleasant people that you have ever met. They also suffer burnouts like everyone else and get stressed by everyday issues too. However, as an entrepreneur you would not want your customers being harassed by your customer service agents.
As a matter of fact, it is important for all businesses to address clients’ complaints promptly and effectively. They should ensure that their customers receive excellent service at all times. The goal is to ensure that your customers remain loyal to your business with no reason to prompt them to follow your competitors. It does not matter whether you are doing business online or you are handling a normal business, this is of utmost importance for any business.
For online businesses, search engine optimization is the target to achieve. Search engine optimization considers the amount of traffic that is being directed towards a specific website. A site that is receiving a lot of traffic is considered reliable. This is the reasoning behind the whole process.
Now, there is no way that you will be receiving a heavy flow of traffic if your customers are not getting the service that they expect. You should target to have such good service as to leave your clients wanting more. This way your flow of internet traffic will always be high and your site’s performance on the search engines will be exceptional.
Handling customer complaints effectively
There are ways in which you can handle your customer’s complaints and ruin your relationship completely. You do not want to do that, right? Here are tips which are relevant in any type of business to ensure that you handle your clients’ issues effectively.
#1. Create several avenues for clients to access you
Your clients should be able to access you at any time of the day or night. They should not all have to struggle with only one avenue. There are those who cannot make phone calls due reception problems. Again, having someone to receive calls from customers at midnight is very difficult. The workload may be too heavy for your customer care to handle. What you can do is to create alternative ways that your clients can reach you.
Here is an example of a company that has got this locked down to a simple art. Safaricom is one of the leading telecommunications companies in Africa. Based in Kenya, Safaricom has the best customer service system any company could possibly have. If you have a problem with their services you have several ways to reach them. There is the toll-free customer service number. This one can take some time to go through. If you are one of those people who haven’t enough time to listen to someone go on and on about this, you can reach the company through Twitter. You post your issue on their handle and they sort it out for you instantly. You can reach them through email too, if you so please.
#2. Handle customer complaints immediately
When a customer complains about a product or service, you should reach out to them with immediate effect and sort out their problem. This is the work of your customer care agents. If you are not able to solve the customer’s problem you can outsource and discretely connect the customer to someone who is able to help out with the problem. Do not wait for the customer to call you back three days later to find out whether you are following up on the issue they raised. This brings us to the third tip.
#3. Keep in touch with the customer
Always stay in touch with your customers after they have made the complaint. For instance, if the complaint is taking a while to sort out it, would only be prudent to give them a call and reassure them that you are working to solve the problem. As aforementioned, do not wait for them to call you to find out whether the problem is still being handled.
#4. Be professional
It is very important to always remain professional with your clients. Listen to the customer’s problem carefully, noting down the key issues. This way you will be able to help them effectively. Offer apologies for the inconvenience that the customer has suffered and be respectful. It does not matter how annoying or annoyed the customer sounds, be patient and reassure them. Explain to the client what might have happened and assure them that you are handling the issue immediately.
#5. Remember you have rights as well
There is a very thin line between allowing you to be harassed by a customer and being helpful. When those insulting customers call in and they are yelling unprintable words at you over the phone, you should handle the situation delicately. Do not hang up on the customer- this is rude. However, what you can do is refer them to the head of the department or get the manager involved. Extricate yourself from the situation as tactfully as possible.
#6. No discrimination
Be appreciative of the differences that exist between individuals. Do not discriminate against people by helping certain clients and ignoring others simply because their accounts or other information are implying a certain status or position. Even those clients who are not buying as frequently as you would want them to should receive the same great service as your most loyal customers.
Advice from SEO experts
Proper handling of customer issues is the best strategy to increase the number of customers your business has. For online businesses, use of
Images “ A brown file folder labeled with Complaints / Shutterstock.com“
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