A positive customer experience can do more to generate sales than anything else.

In fact, when American Express conducted a survey back in 2011, it established that 70 percent of customers said they would spend more on a company that offered exceptional customer service.

When a company creates that kind of reputation, they create loyal customers. Those customers then promote the brand by word-of-mouth referrals and reviews. Here are some customer service ideas for improving customer service skills in your company.

Improving Customer Service Builds Trust and Loyalty

These days, people have so many choices that loyalty doesn’t come easy for any company. You have to work to keep customers. You need to spend time and effort building your customers’ trust in your brand.

The best way to increase trust is by providing consistent, quality customer service. Customer service, or lack thereof, can make or break a customer’s faith in your company.

A bad experience is enough to drive a customer away from you and straight to your competition.

Pay Attention to Customer Feedback

Customer satisfaction surveys are still good sources of data. Though, they are no longer the only ones. What are your customers saying about you on social media? How many customers are sharing your website and other product links?

What issues are your customer service agents logging? Analyzing this data will let you know what your company is doing right. It will also let you know where you need to improve.

Some trouble spots may have to do with the product or service. Though, many times, customer dissatisfaction comes from a breakdown in customer service.

Companies do well to study customer behavior. Once you understand your customer, you can improve your product or service. You can also better the customer experience that comes with their purchase.

Investing Based on Customer Feedback

Understanding your customers also helps you determine which investments to make. Investments may be in your product line or your internal processes.

You’ll learn what qualities and features they’d like more of. You may also justify installing new technologies if they enhance the customer experience.

Customer Service Exists Across Multiple Channels

Customers today can interact with your company using multiple communication channels. They may visit your website, then go to your brick-and-mortar store.

Or they may visit in the reverse order. Some use your mobile app rather than the full website. If you haven’t heard the term “omnichannel customer experience” before, now is a good time to learn.

Your brand should be present wherever your customers are. That includes online, in-store, email, Twitter, and so on. Customers interact through all these channels, and so should you.

These are more avenues from which to collect the all-important customer service data.

Build Brand Awareness

Word-of-mouth is still the strongest form of marketing a company has. What your customers say about your company can make or break your business.

When you provide the best in customer service possible across all channels, people will have more positive things to say. They will remember your brand and recommend your company to others.

Customer Service Is a Stronger Draw than Price

Studies often show that consumers feel customer service is more important than price. They are happy to pay a higher price if it means having a positive customer experience.

Customer-Centric Business Model

If your brand focuses on delivering great customer service, then you have a customer-centric model in place. Your organization needs to remain focused on the customer and delivering your brand’s promise.

This should be the focus of all your staff, not just the sales people and customer service agents. Everyone from executive management on down should place the customer at the heart of everything they do.

Everyone in a company plays a role in the experience of the customer.

Giving Customers What They Want

Some people may think that business is all about getting the sale. That may be true to some extent. Though, today’s customer expects proper treatment. They expect to have a customer experience to go along with the purchase.

They know they are not just a number in line. Providing customers service along with the sale ensures you are delivering on your brand’s promise.

Quality Customer Service Mitigates Problems

No matter how customer-centric your company is, problems will pop up. If a customer voices a complaint, and your company addresses it right away, they may stay loyal despite their issue.

Pay attention to the negative feedback that comes through your channels. Don’t let a negative comment sit out there without responding.

If your company is willing to correct an issue right away, you will preserve that customer’s faith in your brand. This keeps them loyal to you and off of your competitor’s website.

Enhancing Training for Frontline Staff

Customer insights also let you know the strengths and weaknesses of your customer service people and other frontline staff. Your frontline staff interacts with customers the most.

Thus, they influence the customer’s experience more so than anyone (or anything) else. Their customer service skills need to be on-point to deliver consistent results.

Analyze customer feedback. Find out what’s keeping your frontline from delivering the best customer experience possible. Perhaps they need to be more knowledgeable about the product.

If communication is the issue, there are relevant classes for that. For example, English language or soft skills training. Your newer staff may need more customer service skills training.

Improving Customer Service Means Improving ROI

When it comes down to is, not a whole lot matters if you offer poor customer service. Take some time to review these customer service tips. See how you can better provide the best in customer service.

If you’d like to learn more about improving customer service for your business, please contact us.