1. Is your customer service meeting expectations?
Computer manufacturer Dell is no stranger to complaints about its customer service. Back in 2005, a prominent customer began complaining publicly in a now-famous post referred to as Dell Hell. But the computer retailer didn’t ignore the backlash. Instead, it began building what has since been applauded and copied by dozens of other brands: its Social Media Listening Command Center, as well as a Customer Advisory Panel.
These programs were designed to understand customers’ frustrations with calling and speaking to customer service reps with thick foreign accents or being transferred again and again before reaching someone who could help. After making serious changes to its customer service, including rerouting of calls less and enabling customer service reps to solve callers’ problems, Dell was able to earn an 83% loyalty rating from customers.
Poor customer service can be a hidden problem that businesses aren’t aware of. Chances are, they’re not aware of the costs either: 91% of customers who are unhappy with a brand will leave without complaining about their issue. If customers aren’t telling you they’re unhappy, you’ll need to investigate in order to discover the source of their discontent.
The first step is talking to your customers. That means interacting with them one-on-one, whether that’s through conversations at checkout in your physical store or with a follow-up email after an online purchase. You can also send an anonymous survey to customers after a purchase asking for feedback, offering a special coupon or gift card in exchange for their input.
Your objective should be to find out how both the purchase experience went, as well as to gain insight into what they thought of the product. Were there issues? Was it up to expectations? What could you have done better? The more personalized your communication is, the more easily they’ll open up, particularly if they had a negative experience.