5 Lessons From Reviews to Craft Customer Service

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How you interact with and learn from your online reviews has become a crucial aspect of managing customer satisfaction. As a business owner, you must pay close attention to these reviews to understand what your customers are saying about you.

Reviews have the power to impact your brand image and your reputation, so it’s important to take seriously customer service complaints and review management processes on online review sites such as PissedConsumer.com. It’s your customers’ way of telling you how they feel about your business.

The importance of working to improve customer service cannot be overstated. It is the backbone of any successful business. Providing excellent customer service can go a long way toward building a loyal customer base, boosting sales, and improving customer service ratings. However, achieving this goal is easier said than done. It requires consistency, dedication, and a willingness to listen to your customers.

Positive reviews are like a pat on the back that lets me know my efforts to provide exceptional service are paying off. Negative reviews have greater value, however, because they show me where I’m falling short in meeting my customers’ expectations.

Here are a few learnings from feedback that I’ve applied to craft a better business.

Consistency is key

Your customers will expect the same level of service every time they interact with your business. For example, if a customer went to McDonald’s today, they would expect the same quality of food and drink, and the same speed of service they received three years ago. This is why consistency is so important in providing good customer service.

Equally important – you must also keep your messaging consistent. Consistent messaging is critical in providing good customer service. You need to ensure that the messaging in your marketing materials matches the experience customers have when they interact with your brand. When the customer knows what to expect from you, fewer misunderstandings will occur, making life easier for your customer service agents and your customer.

Why else is this important? When customers receive consistent messaging from your brand, they are more likely to be content, feel in good hands when they deal with you, and, ultimately, be loyal to your business.

Starbucks illustrates this point well. Wherever you are in the world, the experience is consistent, you know what you are getting with this brand.

Responsiveness

In addition to consistency, it’s important to be responsive. When customers have a problem, they want to know that their issue is being taken seriously. Never let your customers feel like they are shouting into the void.

People want to know that their concerns are being heard and that you are taking action to address them. If you fail to respond to customer complaints, then you risk losing those customers to your competitors. Address complaints as soon as possible, and take action to resolve the issue in a way that is satisfactory to all.

You should ease communication by providing multiple channels for customers to reach you on – email, phone, and chat contacts – and be active on social media. Allow various ways for customers to get in touch and you ensure that everyone can contact you in a way that is familiar and convenient for them.

Train your team

Your customer service team should be knowledgeable, confident, courteous, and empathetic.

The better customer service representatives are those who are given the freedom to take the initiative and problem-solve on the fly. They should be empowered to make decisions that benefit the customer and the company alike. When customer service reps are given this level of freedom, they feel more invested in their roles and will hence provide a better service.

A confident customer service team is also essential to building customer trust. Confidence in one’s abilities and knowledge inspires confidence in others.

Don’t stay static, always move forward

A proactive approach to customer service matters. This means constantly learning so your team gets better and better at identifying potential issues before they become complaints and taking action to prevent them from happening in the first place.

Proactive communication with customers is a big part of achieving this goal. This will involve providing customers with helpful information and resources, offering solutions to common problems, and following up with customers after a sale to ensure their satisfaction.

Do not try to delete negative reviews

While it may seem the most straightforward course of action, I cannot stress enough that trying to silence critics by removing reviews is a poor choice. In fact, it is often the case that any attempts to delete or remove public negative feedback will actually exacerbate the situation.

This opposite outcome is sometimes referred to as the Streisand Effect, a term given to an instance whereby an individual or company’s efforts to censor facts or feedback on them instead actually attracts more attention to the undesirable information.

The main points to remember here are that by monitoring customer service reviews you can gain valuable insights into how your customers perceive your brand and identify areas for improvement.

Consistency, responsiveness, and proactivity are key to providing good customer service. By taking the time to read and understand online reviews of your business, you will improve customer service ratings, increase customer satisfaction, and build a lasting positive brand image.

Michael Podolsky
Co-founder and CEO of PissedConsumer.com, a review and reputation management platform. Having 20 years of experience on Wall Street, I’ve become an independent entrepreneur and am now actively involved in entrepreneurship, technology development, search optimization, leadership, customer service, and consumer advocacy.

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