According to HubSpot, four out of five customers will buy in the future from a brand that solved a problem through excellent customer support. Conversely, three out of five will never shop at a brand again if the support experience, no matter how small the issue, is poor. In this post, we will detail what makes a great eCommerce customer support experience. Read on to discover how your online stores can start thrilling customers with every interaction.
Tailoring the Solution to the Customer’s Needs
The customer is always right – or at least they should be treated as if they are. This means that your eCommerce customer support team should be tailoring solutions to the customer’s needs. Too often, businesses try to fit the customer into a pre-determined solution. But this only causes the customer to feel as though they aren’t being heard. If the customer feels as if they are arguing with the support team they will subsequently leave a negative review. Instead, do your best to understand the needs of the customer and communicate those needs to your technical team.
Acknowledge the Issue and Be Understanding
One of the biggest mistakes a business can make in regards to support is failing to acknowledge their customers’ concerns. Too often, companies take a defensive position when customers raises a concern, rather than sincerely working to resolve the issue. Alternatively, customers might escalate their concern, only to be told that their original issue still isn’t resolved.
Instead, be understanding of the customer’s perspective and take the time to ask for additional information. This will show that you’re actually interested in resolving their issue, rather than simply placating them. It also gives you the opportunity to find out where things went wrong on your end so you can prevent future mistakes.
Build Trust with Concise, Accurate Communication
Trust is key in any relationship, whether it be personal or professional. The same principle applies when it comes to customer support. If the customer doesn’t trust you, they’re not going to engage with you. Worse, they will look elsewhere for a solution.
Accordingly, it’s important to make sure that your support team is delivering concise and accurate communications. The more information you provide at one time, the less likely the customer will read through all of it; this could lead them to miss an important part of your message. Furthermore, accuracy in small details like spelling and grammar is essential to projecting professionalism.
Being thorough yet succinct gives your customers confidence that you have their best interests in mind. This is especially important when communicating via text, as it can be hard for customers to pick up on tone; errors in spelling and grammar will only serve to further alienate your customer while sending the wrong message entirely.
Provide Resolutions that are Clear and Easy to Follow
All businesses should strive to provide excellent customer support. But this isn’t simply about getting quick resolutions out the door or resolving issues without any complications. True excellence comes from providing both clear and easy-to-follow solutions for problems, even if they aren’t necessarily simple.
It’s very common for customers who’ve experienced frustrating interactions with a company to share that frustration with friends and family. How you handle these incidents has dramatic implications on whether or not they’ll recommend you to their contacts.
In order to provide resolutions that are clear and easy to follow, it’s important to document all of the steps involved as clearly as possible. Include video tutorials and screenshots where applicable. Additionally, make sure that contact information for support is easily accessible on your website. This will prevent customers from having to search for it (or worse, give up altogether).
Provide Options for Receiving Communcation
If you’ve ever tried reaching out to a large company like Amazon for support, then you already know how frustrating it can be. Waiting for a response from an email could take hours or even days. Consider allowing an alternative form of messaging (i.e., via chat) so customers can receive support at their own convenience. In many cases, this is preferable since customers have the ability to respond immediately and with greater candor.
Offer Support on Social Media
More and more consumers are getting in touch via social media. This is especially true if you’re a startup that doesn’t provide phone numbers. For example, more than 1/3 of Twitter users prefer to contact companies via tweets as opposed to emails or phone calls. The best part about offering social media as another form of support is that it’s free! All you need is a team (or an automated tool) to respond to customer inquiries in a timely manner.
Make Sure Your Support Team Is Well-Trained
One of the most overlooked aspects of providing great customer support is having a support team that’s well-trained. This means not only knowing how to use your company’s products but also able to troubleshoot and resolve common issues.
Furthermore, your team should be familiar with your company’s policies and procedures. They need to be able to provide accurate information to customers. Your team should also be able to empathize with customers and understand their frustrations.
Keep in mind that great customer support is more than just resolving the initial issue. It’s also about making sure your customer knows you care and want their business to succeed.
Reward Customers for Sharing Their Feedback
Even though soliciting feedback can feel like a burden at times, having this information can help you understand what customers expect. Not only will it give you insight into how customers view your company, but also provide opportunities to improve. You’ll know where to refine support processes or develop new products and services that better meet their needs.
Managing this feedback is a great opportunity for support teams to reveal themselves as not just troubleshooter, but advocate for the customer. Successful brands take their customers opinions seriously and want to make sure they’re happy with the service provided.
Offer Incentives for Satisfied Customers
Customer loyalty can be a fickle thing – but there are ways to nurture it and keep it healthy. One way to do this is by offering incentives for customers who are satisfied with your support.
This could involve anything from a simple coupon for their next purchase to a more elaborate rewards program that offers different levels of benefits (and maybe even a little bit of swag!). The key is to make sure that the incentive is relevant to your customers and that it’s something they actually want.
For example, if you’re an online store that sells clothes, a coupon for a free shirt or dress would be more enticing than, say, a discount on your next purchase. On the other hand, if you’re an online store that specializes in selling home goods, then a discount on their next purchase might be more tempting.
No matter what incentive you choose, make sure it’s something your customers will value – and remember that incentives are more likely to keep customers around if there’s a recurring benefit. If the incentive is something that costs you money (like coupons), make sure your customers know about it; otherwise, they may miss out on future discounts and feel disgruntled.
Understanding Great eCommerce Customer Support
ECommerce customer support is a vital cog in any business. The more you invest in your customer service, the better chance of success you have. Offering social media channels like Twitter and Facebook are also smart options since many consumers prefer this method over calling or filling out forms online.
Lastly, make sure customer interactions with your company go smoothly by ensuring everyone involved is trained properly. Agents should know how to use products, answer questions accurately, & empathize with customers’ feelings after the interaction is over.
