If a customer's complaint is handled properly, he or she will speak more positively about you than a customer without a complaint. A customer's confidence in a company drops if they do not receive a response. It is therefore important that you have well-trained customer service. A customer with a good and quickly dealt with complaint is usually more satisfied than a customer without a complaint.

Being unreachable for questions or complaints can have far-reaching consequences. Not only may customers switch to the competitor, but more importantly, their confidence in the entrepreneur is declining. And there is a risk of damage to the image.

What does the customer expect from your customer service?
With the arrival of social media, you now have many different contact channels. The customer therefore expects more from you as an entrepreneur. The consumer trying to reach you has following expectations:

  • Callers want a person on the phone within 15 seconds.
  • Questions asked via social media will be answered within 24 hours.
  • Contact information must be easy to find on the website. Prominent on the homepage or with a clear link to it.

Emails will be answered within 24 hours
Digital channels and automatic systems are widely used nowadays. Yet human contact can be an added value for your company. By means of telephone contact, you can switch quickly and think along with the customer. This results in a higher service level.

Telephone customer service is always appreciated
In addition to telephone, email and live chat are by far the most important service channels. Telephone service or call answering service appears to be the most chosen and best valued channel for customers.

Yet this is not always easy as a self-employed person or as a small business. That's the reason why small businesses prefer call answering services. You do not have all the resources to set up a customer service team. Yet it is important to create peace in your work. It is handy to work according to a good schedule. For example, only read your mail before 9 am and after 4 pm. This gives you enough time to focus on other activities. This is slightly more difficult for telephony. Your customers call when it suits them. As a self-employed person, you usually prefer not to be called in the evening. You can regulate this by adding opening times to your telephone. This is how you arrange that calls are forwarded between 9 am and 5 pm.

During outside opening hours, your customers will receive a personalized voicemail. Or you can hire call answering service providers for better results.

Traveling a lot?
If you travel a lot every day, you would rather forward your business calls to your mobile. This is easy with VoIP services. You only need to install an app on your smartphone. Are you on your way to an appointment but would you like to consult with a colleague? Or does a customer need one of your colleagues? Mutual calling and transferring is free with the app. So always and everywhere accessible. Even when you are in a traffic jam.

In short: ensure a smile at the customer through top customer service!

Author's Bio: 

Misty Jhones