Four Simple Methods To Improve Communication With Your Customers
Communication is at the heart of human interactions and it can make or break businesses. Being able to communicate effectively with customers can lead to an increase in sales, repeat business, and referrals. However the inability to communicate with customers can quickly lead to decreased sales, angry customers, and negative reviews.
Businesses operating in an ever-connected society face a big question: How can they improve their communication with customers to grow and flourish?
Well, the place first is to improve the experience that customers get when they call your company. Since, whether you know that or not, even though phones might seem as if they are a way to communicate, a study found: "Phone calls are still the most popular method for customer communication: Social media channels account for only 3 percent of all communications with customers as compared to 68 percent who contact the customer service via phone."
This means that even in a tech-savvy world the phone remains an important medium of communication between businesses and their clients and prospects.
In this regard, we have four ways you can improve customer service and communications through the phone, so that you can increase customer satisfaction and drive your business. Browse this site to find out additional hints about ActiveCampaign Consultant.
Nail the first impression
Business is no different. We all are aware of the importance of first impressions. Businesses need to make the perfect first impressions. Prospects can easily refer their business to you if aren't happy with the first impression they have with your business.
One of the most common ways to botch your business's first impression is to simply not answer your phone correctly. Particularly, if you're getting an excessive amount of calls every day and you don't have a system that is able to communicate with the callers effectively, it can harm your business more than you be aware of.
Limit the time of hold to a minimum
This isn't a new phenomenon however, it's something that many businesses still grapple with. It's a matter of fact that people hate holding for longer than a few minutes, so you need to take the necessary steps to ensure all calls are being routed to the appropriate individual or voicemail with a time of lower amount than that.
An automated answering system will help cut down on wait times if it is set up properly. A phone that emits a sound when someone is in hold for a specific period of time could be another option. This may seem like more of an annoyance rather than a good business practice however it can help to ensure that the caller doesn't remain waiting to long.
Give customer service calls a priority.
Customer service is one of the main forms of communication between a client and a business, and your business cannot afford to let the ball drop. A recent survey found that 78 percent consumers have failed to complete a transaction or have not completed a purchase due to a bad service.
Also, when communication is disrupted over the phone, individuals take it personally, and tend to not offer you their business.
Your customers should be treated as like they were real people.
Improved communication with customers extends to the languages your business uses to converse with them. It can also extend to having actual conversations with them. That means that phone conversations should be less scripted and use less transactional language. For a start, you should frame your conversation in a positive light rather than in a negative way.
Customer service departments should also equip their employees with the right tools that can provide greater insight into the customer. Today's phone systems can sync with customer relationship management (CRM) tools, which gives your support team access to customer information, such as their purchase history as well as their the most recent interactions with your business online and over the phone. This will enable the support team to better serve customers at the moment.