It’s a widely accepted fact that today’s businesses need an online presence to compete on an even keel in the market.
Most people use smartphones and other devices to go online each day, and the Internet is the easiest way to learn of relevant brands, products and services.
While it’s fairly easy to set up an online presence for your business, it can be challenging to maintain a good level of customer service on the Internet.
If the feedback you receive about your business often talks of poor online customer service, you need to read this handy guide in its entirety. The following explains what you can do to boost your brand’s online customer satisfaction levels:
Review Your Customer’s Online Journeys
It’s a good idea to review the customer journey for people buying your products and services online. How easy is it for customers to navigate your website? How many clicks or taps does it take to reach the checkout stage? Are there any convoluted processes during the journey?
The easiest way to review your customer’s online journeys is by having a team of people (a focus group) look for things on your website and attempt to buy them. They will flag any issues that need addressing to improve the customer experience.
Offer Flexible Payment Options
Another thing you should do is look at ways of offering flexible payment options. For example, does your website only accept PayPal payments? If so, you should consider other payment processing services like Stripe to accept debit and credit card payments.
Depending on what you sell, offering a “buy now, pay in instalments later” service from a provider like Klarna can also make sense. In short, you want to make it easy for customers to buy the things they want from you.
Create A Frequently Asked Questions Section
Many businesses often get asked the same questions repeatedly each day. As you can appreciate, dealing with such customer service inquiries can divert your team’s attention from dealing with other issues.
That’s why you should look at creating a Frequently Asked Questions or “FAQ” section on your website and invite customers to refer to it before contacting your customer service or support department.
It’s worth compiling a list of commonly-asked questions before getting to work on this addition to your website, so you only list the questions most people are likely to ask.
Make It Easy For Customers To Contact You
Some customers prefer the convenience of email, while others may want to speak with someone on the telephone. Some people seldom use email and hate talking on the phone, yet spend much of their time on social media.
With the above in mind, consider offering your customers a few different contact options. The idea is that you’re making life easier for your customers and aren’t forcing them to use contact methods they’d rather avoid.
Have Someone Maintain Your Social Media Presence
There’s no denying that social media usage is rising every year. It’s a fun and convenient way for people of all ages and from all walks of life to keep up-to-date on what happens with their friends, families, and news from their favorite brands and interests.
As a business, it makes sense to have a social media presence. But, the sad truth is many firms seldom have an active role on their social media pages.
If your company is guilty of that, consider using a social media virtual assistant to keep your content fresh and help deal with customer inquiries.
Know How To Handle Complaints Properly
More people prefer to complain about things online because it’s convenient and it means they can easily send supporting information to back up their complaints, such as photos or videos of defective products.
You need to take your online customer service seriously and have a process in place for dealing with all customer complaints.
For example, provide customers a reference number for their complaints and ensure your teams keep them updated with any progress (such as refund requests).
Ask Your Customers For Order Feedback
Whenever a customer places an order online with your business, consider following up with a request for feedback shortly after their order gets fulfilled.
Doing so will let you determine if you can improve anything during the customer journey, such as streamlining the payment process or improving the user experience on mobile devices.
The feedback will also give you valuable insight into other areas of your business that you can improve, such as pricing, availability, or product range.
Treat Your Customers Like Royalty
Let’s face it: without customers, you won’t have a business to run!
That’s why you should prioritize and ensure they get treated like royalty from their first point of contact with you through to the order completion stage and beyond.
Examples include:
- Listening to their pain points and concerns;
- Reassuring them that you can solve their problems; and
- Helping them with any issues they might experience.
Embrace Automation And AI
Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, it’s now possible to automate many aspects of a business. For instance, you can use AI (artificial intelligence) chatbots as part of your customer experience and have them assist customers with common queries.
You can also use customer service technology like automation and AI in other ways, such as sending customers order updates and shipment tracking information by SMS.
Ensure Staff Take Ownership Of Problems
Lastly, your staff must take ownership of any issues or complaints raised by customers. If an order contains damaged items, for example, prioritize sending the customer a replacement as soon as possible.
Customers should also have just a single point of contact that will deal with their questions and complaints, and that contact should follow up anything that gets directed to other team members or departments.
Final Thoughts
Improving your levels of online customer satisfaction isn’t particularly challenging for businesses. However, it is vital to ensure a consistent approach and ensure that all customer service staff strive to offer the best support to customers at all times.