4 Ways to Deliver Customer Service like the Pros

Companies with the best customer service reputation do a few things well. They respond quickly, share a robust resource section, offer multiple communication options, provide consistent, quality service, and target and resolve recurring issues quickly.  

Anyone can implement these attributes in their business plan to optimize the consumer experience. With great service, brands can stand out in a sea of similar competitors and emerging brands can build and grow a loyal base.  

Chris Curry, a customer experience expert with JPG Talent, shares a few of his best practices to optimize a customer’s experience.

Make your tech work for you

Our team has worked with several customer service platforms, such as Gorgias and Intercom, and we’ve found numerous benefits for busy founders and brands.  

Customer data compilation and organization are perhaps the most helpful functions. A good service tracker will compile a customer’s history from a variety of different platforms such as texts, calls, emails, messaging apps, chat functions, and website activity.  

“No matter how they reach out or who is handling the interaction, your brand has all that history in one place.” Chris explains. “It provides full insight into each customer’s experience to allow you to make personalized decisions, tailoring responses to each individual’s situation.”

These platforms also have the ability to set up automations in some of your communication channels. If a customer asks a common question, they will receive an automated, speedy response, allowing your company to handle more interactions in a timely manner without having to raise company headcount.  

Putting in the initial effort to build out robust response flows during platform setup can empower your customer service team and AI to quick resolutions and provide a smoother customer experience.  

Recognize patterns through meaningful data

A helpful issue tracker will categorize types of issues - damaged or expired goods, incorrect shipments, missing product, etc. - along with the specific channel a customer reached out with. As you compile more interactions, you’ll begin to see issue type and communication preference patterns emerge. These patterns can help guide business decisions as you understand your customer base better. For example, you notice the majority of your customer communications going through Instagram messaging. That knowledge could lead to an increase in social media marketing and monitoring.  

Pro-tip: Our team is seeing website chat functions trending in popularity, which can offer time saving advantages for your team with quick, direct communication and automation options.  

Chris points out that pattern tracking can also pinpoint immediate issues. “If you see multiple people reach out within a couple days with the same complaint, you know there’s a critical company matter to solve. By bringing the problem immediately to your team’s attention, you could stop it from becoming a major event.” Your team can then craft an appropriate response to those already affected, along with a proactive message to share with your customer base while a solution is developed.  

Great service starts with great front-line staff

Since customer service representatives act as the voice and advocate for your brand, an employee’s experience is just as important as your customer’s experience. Our team has seen too many brands under-support their front-line staff, resulting in a direct hit to customer satisfaction and repeat business.

How do you support your staff well? It’s not through the occasional pizza party, new office furniture, or company merch. Make your front-line staff one of the most knowledgeable employee groups within your company. Keep them up to date on marketing promotions, the production process, and the why behind business decisions.

“They NEED to understand how everything operates because people will ask questions about everything, and every situation is different.” Chris emphasizes, “One of the most frustrating things as a representative is having a customer reach out and tell you about something you were unaware of.”

Empower your representatives to make smart business decisions by building out solutions or paths forward for every type of issue – giving both them and the customer choices. Demonstrate how each ‘fix’ affects company profits and inventory, so they can effectively solve issues in a way that’s not detrimental to your bottom line.  

Slow down to generate revenue

Our team has seen too many businesses treat customer service like hectic firefighting, a ‘have to get through’, or a non-priority.  

“Customer service should be looked at as a revenue generator and sales opportunity. Every interaction starts with a clean slate.” Chris explains, “Every time we interact with a customer, we have the opportunity to sell, upsell, or save them.”  

Maybe a potential customer has interacted with your website a few times and emails a few questions about the product – this is your opportunity to close a sale and leave a great impression. What if a repeat customer inquires about the next-order discount card that was placed in their package? The conversation could turn into an opportunity to upsell or add to their regular order. An angry chat message about a damaged order could lead to an empathetic conversation where the customer feels heard, valued, and taken care of.  

Remember: It’s almost always less expensive to take a few extra minutes, provide good service, and save a customer than it is to acquire a new one.

Many emerging brands have tunnel vision around increasing their customer base immediately and crafting their next strategy. Yes, a brand does need to continually bring in new customers, but are you taking care of the ones you currently have?  

Chris continually points brands back to their existing customer data saying, “You have all these customer interactions. Why don’t we slow down, analyze the data, and let it tell us what customers actually want next?” Good customer service can lock in repeat, loyal customers in an industry where it’s quite easy to switch to other, similar products.