I have fallen out of sync lately with my scheduled newsletters, and pretty much everything else. As I’ve mentioned before, life happens, even with our businesses. And when one is self-employed, caring for everything from the actual work to marketing, to IT, to accounting, to everything else under our beautiful sun, it can be overwhelming.
Recently I found myself scrambling for a new service, one I did not have to think about for the entire time I’ve been running my business. Within days, I had to train myself on the nuances of this business aspect, not realizing how much control I had handed to the company years earlier. (I’m not detailing the service or the company simply because I don’t want to mar anyone’s reputation). It is an area that is one of my least favorites in which I have little experience, although after two months, I’m a lot more adept than I was before.
In the time I was changing services and redoing things on my own, there were two things that stood out to me, two important aspects businesses are beginning to overlook. They have to do with communication and customer service.
In the past when I heard advertisements and commercials from businesses that touted “great customer service” as a key element of their business, I thought that was a waste of advertising space. Great customer service should be a given in any business. However, in this age of AI, voicemail, email, and decreased staff, this element of running a business stands out when, as customers, we either experience the attention we crave, or the abandonment of a distant company.
Why is customer service important to your customers? Why should you make sure your company’s communications are clear?
Why customer service is needed
In short, we are all pretty tired of talking to machines. We’re reduced to conversing with chatbots in the chat room on sites when we go to the help section. And when we have little experience or understanding in what we need help with, chatting for an hour with a screen is exhausting and disappointing.
As humans, we desire the human experience. When we visit a store rather than shop online, we interact with other humans who are, hopefully, trained to help. We appreciate it when they walk with us to the area we need, or when they explain how to use a specific product. We can ask questions and engage in back-and-forth conversation. By the time we leave we are more confident because someone took the time to help us.
When we’re ignored, we grow frustrated. When we cannot find help (still in the store), we feel our time is wasted looking. Businesses must pay attention to the ones who are keeping them in business. While some need extra guidance, others simply need a small amount of help. Either way, as customers, we need to feel as if the business actually cares about our needs.
And as paying consumers, we will take our money to someone who authentically helps us.
Clear communications alleviate frustration and fear
Another aspect businesses are overlooking is clear communications. Again, chatting in chat rooms with robots does little to calm a customer’s concerns, yet many organizations have turned to this software to save time and money. To them, their focus is to speed through the process to get to the next number in line.
In my experience of changing services, the chatbot did not comprehend my needs. Despite my clear sentences explaining my concerns, and asking questions, it continued to repeat its instructions. Not until I called and spoke to a living human did I feel a little more human myself. The person understood me and could then walk me through my challenges until we resolved them.
Think about it: why do customers call the company? To talk with a human. We need conversation. We desire to be heard. We want solutions right away.
Support tickets that go unanswered for days; voicemails that are not returned; email messages with partial information, can create fear and uncertainty in our customers. But businesses choose growth and profit over customer care. They expand without adding staff. They become distant from the human experience.
What businesses should consider for their customers
I reflected a lot over the last two months about my own business. What brings me satisfaction in my work is being small enough to work one-on-one with my clients. We meet, we talk, we work together. It’s why I chose not to create programs online people can simply buy and do by themselves. I’ve done that myself in the past, and frankly, I don’t learn as much because I’m not a cookie cutter version of everyone else. And I refuse to do that to my clients.
My clients should feel important and special. The only way for that to happen is to make certain I communicate clearly with them, and give them great customer service. I desire each of my clients to feel as if they are my number one client.
People today are frustrated, angry, and in some cases, unhinged. Have we become so distant, hiding behind screens, that we really cannot take time with people to reassure them they matter to us?
The only way we can do that is to be personable. And the way to stay in business is to strengthen trust and loyalty with our clients and customers through the human experience.
In this age of AI, voicemail, email, and decreased staff, great customer service is disappearing, leaving customers frustrated. Excellent service and clear communications help alleviate frustration and fear. Businesses who create engagement and authentic customer experience become trusted sources. They stand out and gain loyal followers and buyers because of their superior treatment of their people.
Photo by Kampus Production
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