Communication is at the heart of human interaction, and it can make or break a relationship. Being able to communicate effectively with your customers can boost sales, and repeat business. On the other hand, poor communication can quickly lead to lower sales, frustrated customers and poor reviews.
So how can you improve your communication experience and help grow your business?
1. First Impressions Matter
It doesn’t matter if it’s over the phone, email or live chat the initial impression can set the tone for the entire customer experience! Introduce yourself and let your customer know you’re here to help. Keep it positive, friendly and use personalisation. Have a look at these 2 examples below.
Example 1
Agent: “Caravan Rentals, how can I help you?”
Customer: “I need to rent a caravan for a week.”
Agent: “OK, what size?”
Example 2
Agent: “Thank you for calling Caravan Rentals, this is Geoff. How can I help you?”
Customer: “I need to rent a caravan for a week.”
Agent: “Great, I will be happy to help you with that. May I get your name please?”
See the difference? The personalisation in the second example takes almost no additional time, but can leave a significant impact on your customer.
2. Reduce & Communicate Wait Times
Whether it’s on live chat or over the phone, the longer your customers have to wait, the more frustrated they’re likely to get. So try and keep waiting to a minimal.
Communicating your wait time will set expectations and help reduce frustrations. Tell them what number they are in the cue, if they sent an email, let them know it’s been received and they’ll get a responsive within xxx hours, if they’re on hold let them know how long the wait will be.
3. Have Real Conversations with your Customers
Scripted language is impersonal and frustrating. You can create a unique experience by simply having a real conversation with your customer. Have some fun and be yourself, your customers will appreciate it!
4. Use Positive Language
Using positive language makes customers feel good and will reduce conflict and frustrations. A simple tweak in how you say something can make all the difference.
“Sorry, but this product is currently unavailable” sounds impersonal and negative. You can, instead, put the same thing in another way, such as, “I can see that this product will be available in a couple of weeks.i can place the order and make sure it gets sent to you as soon as we have it?”
5. Tell Customers What to Expect Next
By telling your customers what will happen next, you remove a huge amount of confusion or frustration.
This could be a simple p.s on a bottom of an email, an email to explain what happens after a sign up or at the end of a live chat telling the customers information will be emailed over.
It doesn’t matter which channel you communicate with customers through, as long as it’s done well! if you read this article and conclude you would like help, drop me an email, and we can talk about ways I might be able to help out.
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