6 Tips to Wow: eCommerce Customer Service Best Practices
All businesses should strive to have amazing customer service. Not only does it create happy customers, excellent customer service makes customers more loyal, encourages them to spend more money with your business, and is a great way to earn free word-of-mouth advertising. There are dozens of ways to make your customer service incredible and we chose half a dozen to help you wow with these ecommerce customer service best practices.
- Thank your customers
- Acknowledge and empathize with their pain point
- Know the product or service
- Ask if they need more assistance
- Ask for feedback
- Respond quickly
Thank Your Customers
When a customer reaches out to your service lines, the first thing you should do is thank them. They’re taking valuable time out of their day to let you know about a problem that needs correcting. Even if they explain the problem with anger, a thank you can help to diffuse the situation so all parties have a more pleasant interaction.
Acknowledge and Empathize With Their Pain Point
There are two main reasons that this tip is one of the ecommerce customer service best practices. The first is that it shows the customer you hear what they’re saying and will provide them with some level of compassion regarding their issue. The second reason is that acknowledging their problem by restating it gives the customer a chance to correct any misconceptions you may have heard. It puts you on the same page so the problem can be corrected properly the first time. Try using a phrase like “I’m very sorry the product wasn’t exactly what you were expecting; I know how frustrating that can be,” to restate their problem and let them know you relate to it.
Know the Product or Service
For a customer to call you with a specific problem about a product or service, only to realize you don’t understand what they’re talking about, will only make their frustration worse. To be able to effectively help them, you or the employees handling customer service for your business must have extensive knowledge about your products, or at least on how to solve common problems (for example, policies should be in place that deal with returns, refunds, and more).
Ask if They Need More Assistance
Sometimes a customer will call with more than one problem or question. If you cut them off before all their needs are taken care of, they’ll become frustrated and possibly angry which is the opposite of how you want to leave your customers feeling. Asking if they need more assistance shows how willing you are to help and gives the customer an overall positive experience.
eCommerce Customer Service Best Practices: Ask for Feedback
At the end of the interaction, ask the customer if they would be willing to provide feedback on your service. You can do this by asking directly or sending an email a few days later. Their feedback will help identify levels of satisfaction with your service, as well as areas in which you excel or need improvement.
Respond Quickly
In the technological age, most customers expect an immediate response when they reach out to you with a concern. The longer they wait, the more their frustration grows. By responding quickly, you improve their overall experience and also prevent service pileups that lengthen wait times even more.
Wowing your customers with your customer service may mean the difference between a one-time sale and an army of loyal customers. Take these ecommerce customer service best practices and give it a shot.
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