Awesome Online Customer Service. In the digital age, companies’ online presence is a vital part of their customer service. Getting it right is crucial to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Good online customer experiences lead to positive word of mouth and a strong brand identity. Getting it wrong can be disastrous. Eighty one percent of people research a large purchase online. Eighty seven percent have requested help online. Forty six percent of 35 to 44 year olds are more likely to go online to complain about a company than to praise it. Fifty four percent of people share bad customer experiences with more than five people. Forty five percent of customers share bad service experiences on social media. [1] [2] [3] Eight tips for providing great online customer service. One. Make it simple. Keep people happy online and reduce customer service queries by helping them to help themselves. Make it easy for them with simple, clear navigation, FAQs, clear ways to find information and help. Fifty five percent of
adults will abandon an online purchase if they can’t find an easy answer. Thirty nine percent will spend just five minutes looking for information before giving up. [4] Two. Monitor brand mentions. You have to know when people are talking about you online, so you can take advantage of positive comments and diffuse problems. Set up alerts to let you know when you’re being talked about online. Look at free tools like Social Mention, Addict-o-matic and IceRocket. Forty nine perent of UK brands and fifty seven of US brands don’t respond to at mentions on Twitter. [5] Three. Respond quickly. Online customers have much higher expectations of response times. Sixty six percent expect a same-day response. Forty three percent expect a reply within an hour. Fourteen percent expect to hear from you within five minutes. [6] Make sure someone is designated and empowered to respond quickly to requests and complaints. Have a clear plan for dealing with online communications, including practical steps to take and timescales
for responses. Four. Address customers where they are. Customers expect you to engage with them on their chosen platform. If you’re approached on Facebook, respond on Facebook. Only ask to change medium with a good reason, e.g. privacy or data protection. If you want to go private, use private messages on the same platform – but remember, they could be made public later! Five. Be consistent across all channels. Customers want to hear the same information and get the same service, however they contact you. Track and record customer interactions across all platforms. Put clear customer service policies, standards and guidelines in place. Six. Be human/authentic. You need a brand identity and voice, but online customers want to engage with a human being. Don’t be afraid to be an individual. Empathize, without necessarily admitting fault. Match the customer’s communication style. Use humor, if appropriate. Seven. Try to help others at the same time. Save yourself and other customers time by handling problems in
the open. Post common queries and solutions publicly. Others can then solve the same problem themselves. You avoid having to answer the same question again. Eight. Don’t feed the trolls. There will always be people online who just want to cause trouble. They’ll make sweeping negative statements in the hope of drawing you into an argument. Either ignore them completely. Without oxygen, the fire will go out. Engage with them in a fun, clever way, using positivity and humor. Whatever you do, do not get into an argument online. It will only make you look bad, however it ends.
References
[1] ‘Lithium Launches Inaugural Customer Expectations Survey’ at: http://www.lithium.com/company/news-room/press-releases/2014/lithium-launches-inaugural-customer-expectations-survey (20 May 2014).
[2] ‘Extreme Customer Expectations Have Gone Global’ at: http://www.lithium.com/company/news-room/press-releases/2014/extreme-customer-expectations-have-gone-global (15 October 2014).
[3] ‘The Impact of Customer Service on Customer Lifetime Value’ at: https://www.zendesk.com/resources/customer-service-and-lifetime-customer-value (accessed 13 May 2015).
[4] ‘Can Companies Meet Rising Customer Expectations?’ at: http://www.eptica.com/blog/can-companies-meet-rising-customer-expectations (18 March 2015).
[5] ‘Research: Do Brands Live Up to Customer Expectations on Social?’ at: https://www.brandwatch.com/2015/03/research-do-brands-live-up-to-customer-expectations-on-social/ (13 March 2015).
[6] ‘Lithium Launches Inaugural Customer Expectations Survey’ at: http://www.lithium.com/company/news-room/press-releases/2014/lithium-launches-inaugural-customer-expectations-survey (20 May 2014).
© 2022 Mind Tools by Emerald Works Ltd.
adults will abandon an online purchase if they can’t find an easy answer. Thirty nine percent will spend just five minutes looking for information before giving up. [4] Two. Monitor brand mentions. You have to know when people are talking about you online, so you can take advantage of positive comments and diffuse problems. Set up alerts to let you know when you’re being talked about online. Look at free tools like Social Mention, Addict-o-matic and IceRocket. Forty nine perent of UK brands and fifty seven of US brands don’t respond to at mentions on Twitter. [5] Three. Respond quickly. Online customers have much higher expectations of response times. Sixty six percent expect a same-day response. Forty three percent expect a reply within an hour. Fourteen percent expect to hear from you within five minutes. [6] Make sure someone is designated and empowered to respond quickly to requests and complaints. Have a clear plan for dealing with online communications, including practical steps to take and timescales
for responses. Four. Address customers where they are. Customers expect you to engage with them on their chosen platform. If you’re approached on Facebook, respond on Facebook. Only ask to change medium with a good reason, e.g. privacy or data protection. If you want to go private, use private messages on the same platform – but remember, they could be made public later! Five. Be consistent across all channels. Customers want to hear the same information and get the same service, however they contact you. Track and record customer interactions across all platforms. Put clear customer service policies, standards and guidelines in place. Six. Be human/authentic. You need a brand identity and voice, but online customers want to engage with a human being. Don’t be afraid to be an individual. Empathize, without necessarily admitting fault. Match the customer’s communication style. Use humor, if appropriate. Seven. Try to help others at the same time. Save yourself and other customers time by handling problems in
the open. Post common queries and solutions publicly. Others can then solve the same problem themselves. You avoid having to answer the same question again. Eight. Don’t feed the trolls. There will always be people online who just want to cause trouble. They’ll make sweeping negative statements in the hope of drawing you into an argument. Either ignore them completely. Without oxygen, the fire will go out. Engage with them in a fun, clever way, using positivity and humor. Whatever you do, do not get into an argument online. It will only make you look bad, however it ends.
References
[1] ‘Lithium Launches Inaugural Customer Expectations Survey’ at: http://www.lithium.com/company/news-room/press-releases/2014/lithium-launches-inaugural-customer-expectations-survey (20 May 2014).
[2] ‘Extreme Customer Expectations Have Gone Global’ at: http://www.lithium.com/company/news-room/press-releases/2014/extreme-customer-expectations-have-gone-global (15 October 2014).
[3] ‘The Impact of Customer Service on Customer Lifetime Value’ at: https://www.zendesk.com/resources/customer-service-and-lifetime-customer-value (accessed 13 May 2015).
[4] ‘Can Companies Meet Rising Customer Expectations?’ at: http://www.eptica.com/blog/can-companies-meet-rising-customer-expectations (18 March 2015).
[5] ‘Research: Do Brands Live Up to Customer Expectations on Social?’ at: https://www.brandwatch.com/2015/03/research-do-brands-live-up-to-customer-expectations-on-social/ (13 March 2015).
[6] ‘Lithium Launches Inaugural Customer Expectations Survey’ at: http://www.lithium.com/company/news-room/press-releases/2014/lithium-launches-inaugural-customer-expectations-survey (20 May 2014).
© 2022 Mind Tools by Emerald Works Ltd.
Share this post
Discover more content
Tips for Dealing with Customers Effectively
Common-sense, practical suggestions for delivering excellent customer service to help you meet and exceed expectations.
Oded Netzer on Customer Retention
Is there a secret recipe for customer retention? Sadly, probably not - but Dr Oded Netzer from Columbia Business School has figured out some of the key ingredients. Discover how to improve your customer retention with Oded's insights in this expert video.