Is having great Customer Service important? How can businesses attract more customers? Read on with Cashfloat as we explore all aspects of customer service.
- Firtly, an alarming customer services report and the latest statistics
- Secondly, what great customer service means and why it is so important
- Thirdly, how business could improve their customer service
- Next, what exactly customer service standards are
- Then, the role of a customer services representative
- After that, Careers in customer services
- Next, the company that is keeping its customers happy
- Lastly, the roles that social media and technology is playing in customer services
- There have been massive losses due to unhappy customers
- A great customer service results in more customers
- Amazon has the best customer service in the UK
Customer Service Ombudsman report
There was a recently released report from the Ombudsman Services. It was claiming that over a quarter of customers are unhappy with the service that they are receiving from some companies. This is resulting in them taking their custom elsewhere. This is costing such companies up to 37 billion pounds in lost revenue. Futhermore, the statistics reported by Ombudsman Services has brought to light worrying statistics concerning customer services within large companies. It has also brough to light the huge losses that these businesses can suffer as a result. Surveys carried out in Great Britain showed that the number of customer services complaints has risen from 52 million in 2015 to 56 million in 2016. 79% of people surveyed reported that they would not shop with businesses again if they had a negative experience.
The retail sector received the most complaints with a whopping 24% of unhappy customers. After this is 13% in the telecoms industry and 10% concerning the energy sector. After a year of frustrating train strikes, the rail sector saw a 30% increase in complaints. This brought their figures up to 2 million. The financial losses within this area are less, as people do not have the option of changing providers. This is unlike other sectors such as banking, retail and transport sectors which are more likely to suffer financial loss.
Also, the report found that due to bad customer service 63% of customers feel resigned into accepting bad service as not much seems to get done regarding their complaints. In addition, they report seeing no change in the behaviour of large companies. Many say that they have lost their trust in them.
What is the definition of great customer service?
Firstly, the definition of great customer service is giving the customer a great experience before, during and after purchase. The most important thing to customers is that businesses fulfil their promises. Secondly, they should also deal with any complaints that should arise, swiftly and efficiently. Furthermore, everyone will have their definition of the subject according to their own experiences. Ultimately, they will hold the good ones as a benchmark against any future ones.
Importance of great customer service
Why is great customer service so important? If the client is not getting what they feel is a high standard of customer service then they will simply take their business elsewhere. It’s as simple as that. In today’s cut-throat world of business, companies cannot afford the massive losses in income that they are suffering as a direct result of unhappy consumers shopping elsewhere. It often forces small business’s to take out short term loans to be able tp carry on their business. 9 out of 10 shoppers would gladly pay more for a better standard of service and a good experience. Also 70% of people would give their repeat business if a problem was resolved in a satisfactory manner.
Customers are the reason that companies exist. Furthermore, a great customer service can turn a person into a lifelong repeat customer. This is what a business should be looking for if it wants to survive in the future. Businesses should aim to gain and keep not only their customers business but their children’s too, to guarantee their future survival. It comes down to being more attuned to the customer’s needs and wants and providing what they are asking for. The best advertisement for any company is a happy customer, as people love to share their great experiences with their families and friends which will generate more business.
The best advertisement is a happy customer
A better service
So how can businesses provide better customer service?
Businesses could improve their customer services by providing a higher standard of training for their employees. Also, by teaching customer service skills, employees would be better equipped to handle and deal with problems that arose in a professional, efficient manner. Some of these skills can be learned. There are also certain qualities that an employee must posses to be able to learn these skills. This is why recruiting the right people to work in this sector is extremely important.
The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary. -Sam… Click To TweetGreat Customer service skills
What are customer service skills? Customer service skills are things like patience, adaptability and empathy. Firstly, a good employee must be able to adapt to suit the person that they deal with. It doesn’t matter whether they are feeling angry, puzzled or just chatty. Each of these different customers will need a consistently high standard of service and understanding.
Secondly, knowledge and ability to learn are two of the most important skills that should be possessed by customer service personnel. It is essential to be able to speak in a knowledgeable and authoritative manner, regarding the products that are on offer. It is also essential to be able to answer any enquiries that people may have. Customers always appreciate honesty. It is important to be able to tell them if you can’t answer their questions and to know who to pass them on to to get a satisfactory answer.
Thirdly, clear communication is a skill. It is imperative to make sure that the customer can understand exactly what is being offered to them and not become confused. As a result it could lead to future disputes. Being cheerful and having the ability to confirm that you understand that the customer is happy, are also great skills.
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Customer service careers
Having a good work ethic will ensure that problems will get dealt with in the correct manner and thick skin is needed, since many customers that employees will have to deal with, could be irate.
What do customer service representatives do? Customer service representatives work in every industry. The tasks that they perform can vary greatly. Their main job is to answer questions and resolve any problems that a customer may be having. They will open the customer’s file in the computer system, to get the information to deal with any problems and perform tasks such as address changes and cancellations of orders or contracts.
In the retail industry, they may handle returns or help customers locate items in shops and give product information. Many customer service employees work in call centres and do not have face to face contact with customers. They may interact through live chat and email, so a good command of the English language is essential.
Opportunities
Are there good opportunities for customer service careers? Firslty, a career in customer services will call for the applicant to have a good level of general education, perhaps even a university degree, depending on the nature of the company. In addtion, apprenticeships are available for some companies and a few weeks of classroom training is usually called for in order to learn what you need to know about the products and the company that you would be working for. On gov.uk you can read about customer service apprenticeships. After a few years of experience, there would be opportunities for promotion to team leader or even customer services manager.
Customer service disadvantages
Customer service jobs can involve unsociable hours and a lot of stress. In order to provide great service to their customers, many companies have 24-hour call centres to deal with problems that may arise out of working hours. Additionally, this job could also involve having to work weekends and holidays. Also, not all calls or customer interaction will be pleasant. People can become quite angry when they are filing complaints or feel that they are not getting what they want. This can make a job in customer services quite stressful at times.
Best customer service in the UK
Which company provides the best customer service in the UK? The Institute of Customer Service surveys 10,000 UK residents in order to find their data. They ask these people to base their responses on experience that they have had in dealing with companies in the past three months. Their ratings are because of many factors such as; timeliness, problem-solving, quality, efficiency, complaint handling and ease of doing business. The most important factor for many was staff competence, followed by staff doing what they said they would do and lastly, good service on the phone.
The company that scored the highest and constantly delivered great customer service was Amazon. You only have to look at their website to understand why this is a fact. As a company, they have always realised the importance of customer service. They have plugged millions into developing in-app support and the Bezos question mark. The Mayday support app, enjoyed by Kindle Fire users, puts the customer in touch with a customer service representative in minutes every day of the year. If you can imagine that there are approximately 30,000,000 users around the world, then you begin to appreciate what an achievement that is!
ChatBots
The retail industry is turning to ChatBots to help solve some of their issues. Although still in early stages, ChatBots are a tool that is being looked into by many retailers to solve many simple customer service problems and allow customers to interact with the company more quickly and efficiently. They will never replace human interaction. However, they could be introduced on shop floors to help people locate shopping items. They can indicate a free changing room and help to reduce some of the complaints that retail stores have to deal with that their on-line competitors don’t.
Social media
Social media can be a soap box for publicity of bad customer service. Businesses can no longer afford not to provide excellent customer service in today’s social media using population. A video or a shocking example of bad customer service can spread in minutes via Facebook, Twitter and U Tube. This causes millions of pounds worth of damage in lost revenue and business to be forced to apply for an online loan. People do believe what they read on these channels. One person’s bad experience can turn into an experience for thousands, even millions of customers who may think about shopping elsewhere to avoid getting treated the same way.
Conclusions
So what conclusions can we draw about customer service and the effect it has on business? Firstly, the surveys are showing that the top ranking and most successful companies are the ones who are more focused on customer service. Secondly, embracing technology and using it as a tool to enhance the customer’s experience could be the way forward, but only if it’s combined with human interaction. After all, a robot cannot deliver a heartfelt apology, which is all many people need to forgive and forget.
At Cashfloat, we take great pride in our wonderful customer service throughout the whole borrowing process. Hopefully, if anyone has any problems with our payday loans, they feel comfortable to approac our friendly staff by phone, email, text or live chat!
