4 customer service blunders that are bad for business

| October 6, 2015

4 customer service blunders that are bad for business

Today, the customer is truly the king. They have unprecedented power and can cause permanent damage to your brand with a single bad review online.

Customer service therefore becomes the backbone of business. Companies, big and small, are spending thousands of dollars to keep their customer service in top shape to ensure that their clients get the right support.

Even if you’re just starting out, it’s important to keep customer service in mind. In fact, you can build your business faster and start earning profits sooner if you establish a reputation of providing excellent service. Just make sure you’re not committing the following mistakes:

1 Making your Customers Work Hard

Customers want ease of access and speedy delivery. If you’re running a cafe, it’s not advisable to keep a hungry person waiting for too long. If you’re running a software development company, it pays to answer calls quickly and have a well-established tech-support team to help clients.

Ease of access and swift delivery are vital for good customer service. Don’t make your customers wait and deliver solutions or products to them promptly. If you fail to do so, they might turn their back on you.

2 Not having back up technology

Businesses rely heavily on technology these days. You have websites, servers, phones, faxes, etc, that need to be in working order at all times. Let’s take the cafe example once again; people often come to cafes to work. They want access to the Wi-Fi and might spend hours in your establishment. They might be your most loyal customers.

Their satisfaction with your business would depend entirely on your Wi-Fi. But if customers can’t access it or if your router is malfunctioning, it’d be wise to address the matter immediately. If the main attraction of your business is Wi-Fi, it’s best to have a back-up so that your customers don’t have to look elsewhere.

The same principle applies to your website, your products and other technologies involved. Every minute your website is down and isn’t assessable, you lose a significant amount of revenue.

3 Ignoring Employee Performance

When you’re hiring someone, you are taking on a risk. While you need people to get work done and operate your business, you’re also responsible for them. They are the face of your company and any mistakes committed by them can reflect on your business.

For example, if your employee is rude to your customer or says something offensive in a client’s hearing, it can damage your reputation. When your employees are interacting with your customers they’re not individual entities accountable for their own mistakes. If they commit a mistake, your business is committing a mistake.

4 Not Keeping Customers Engaged

Keeping the customers interested and engaged should be your priority. You need to be in regular communication with them. You need to offer interesting deals and discounts to call their attention. Not spending effort to keep your clients is the worst customer service blunder you can commit.

If you avoid these mistakes and run a smooth customer service operation, your business is more likely to draw more traffic and become successful.