Experienced business owners know how important it is to maintain a great communication level with the customers. Customers, after all, are the lifeline of every business. Without them, you would have no revenue.
However, in order to keep things running smoothly, you need to let your buyers know that you appreciate and respect them. And that is why it’s of utmost importance to know how to communicate with them effectively.
So, why not take a look below and see what you can do to further improve communication with your customers. Once your customers start realizing how much you are trying to improve your relationship with them, they will reward you.
The all-too-important first impression
This is something that can be applied both to your personal life and your business. The first impression is extremely important.
To be fair, saying that the first impression is even more important for businesses wouldn’t be a stretch. Prospects can easily choose your competition over you if they dislike their first interaction with your company.
Bear in mind that one of the easiest ways to botch your business’s first impression is to simply not answer your phone correctly.
Say that you are getting a fair amount of calls on a daily basis and you don’t have an automated system that communicates with callers effectively. Well, this can damage your business more than you can imagine.
On the other hand, if you do have an automated phone system, make sure you have a good one. According to a study, more than eight in ten consumers say they will avoid a company after a poor experience with an automated phone system.
And even though this decision is mostly a result of poor interactions that happen over the phone, similar issues can happen with online forms or emails as well.
Customer support issue
One of the most important segments of your business has to be your customer support team. You can make all the right impressions before and when you sell your products, but if your customers encounter a problem and contact you, you need to shine even more.
Seeing that your customer support agents will be contacted only when something goes wrong, you need to know that customers are already a bit angry or agitated. So, you need to have a policy where your agents are required to do everything in their power to resolve the issues.
It doesn’t matter if a customer submits a request through a form or goes straight to the phone and dials your CS number. The response should be quick and it should cover all pain points.
So, stock up on patience, have all the important info and try to be as proactive as possible. If your organization is still small enough that you and a couple of your colleagues are managing customer care service, you need to equip yourselves with knowledge and patience.
If you have a whole department dedicated to customer service, you need to make it clear that your priority is the satisfaction of your customers.
Also, if you plan on outsourcing your customer service department, make sure you hold good training and get every single employee to share your vision. Also, equip the department with good phone systems and a stable internet connection.
In case you have to mask your address, try taking advantage of the VoIP (voice-over-IP) technology. This kind of technology is becoming more and more popular and you should check it out. And of course, always look for the best VoIP providers if you want to have reliable calls without interruptions.
Social proof
Social proof is one of the most powerful and prominent psychological phenomena. And, as such, you should know a few things that will allow you to use it for communication improvement.
But, let’s define social proof first.
Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation.
The gist of it is that people like to see other people practice something before they go on and do the same thing. So, if you are selling various products and you get prospects that are not on the fence about buying, displaying other people’s testimonials could help them make a decision.
However, this will not only boost your conversions, but it will also improve communication. This happens thanks to user social proof. This is a type of social proof when your current customers recommend your services or products based on their positive experiences.
Of course, this is crucial because people first like to see how their peers did business with you before they actually go on and contact you for services. This kind of proof will help initiate communication.
A good example of this kind of proof is manifested through video testimonials. This is a type of user-generated content where your satisfied customers share their experiences with your brand. The other prospects should then see this content if you want them convinced.
Feedback and why it is important
It’s always useful to ask for feedback. You shouldn’t wait for something bad to happen to address the problem. Don’t start repairing broken things only when people start leaving.
Instead, you should conduct regular surveys or send out questionnaires. Also, think about sending surveys. A Net Promoter score survey is designed for business owners to get a clear understanding of customer satisfaction levels.
On top of that, these surveys let you know how loyal your customers are and how willing they are to recommend you to a friend.
But, this all sounds simple in theory. Gathering this kind of feedback is oftentimes difficult. That’s why you need to pay attention to the following:
- Choose the best time to ask (after purchase or every few months).
- Gather feedback after the end of the customer service request.
- Feel free to ask for feedback during a live chat session.
- Select the right channels to ask for feedback (email, Facebook, forms, phone, etc).
After you acquire the necessary data, try to transform that data into analytics so that you can get useful pieces of information about the areas you can improve.
Also, get your team on board so that all of your work towards the same goal – improvement of communication and overall customer satisfaction.
Social media as an important communication channel
Millions of people nowadays use social media platforms. And this means that there is a high chance that your target audience is present there.
That’s why you have to make your presence on these networks known. But, you should go an extra step if you want to improve the communication between your business and your customers.
For a start, your pages need to be optimized and equipped with all the right and necessary details about your business and products.
Once you establish your presence on some of the most popular networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, it’s time to start interacting with your audience.
You can make giveaways, push valuable content, and gamify the whole experience. The goal here is to make your followers interact with your business page as much as possible.
On top of that, you should also make it possible for your customers to reach out to you through your social media pages if they encounter issues with your products.
You don’t only have to use social media to boost email subscribers, generate leads, and market your products, though these are important. Social networks can also do wonders communication-wise.
In turn, this will make people comfortable with your brand and you will create meaningful and long-lasting relationships.
Igor is a content marketing expert with a proven track record of helping businesses by adding value to their brands, developing a content marketing strategies, as well as educating and connecting with their audiences on a personal level. In his spare time, he plays guitar, produces electronic music, does yoga, learns how to ski, and (with more or less success) tries to get in touch with his inner child.
Author // Igor Zagradanin
