Retailers know just how important sales data can be. These metrics paint a picture of how well your business is doing — but they also illustrate various ways to improve. Testing different copy, PPC ad campaigns or how a landing page looks and feels can impact sales results. These are all tried and true methods of data collection.
But what about your call center service? This key piece is often ignored as an incredible way to increase sales and overall revenue. A well-trained and professional customer-service team can impact metrics in extreme ways. In our current customer-centric climate, customer service should not be overlooked. How well your staff is trained, the tools at their disposal and the incentives available to them matter. These are all variables that can impact revenue. Retailers need to take advantage of every metric available to help increase sales.
Well, customer service literally does just that. Customers are actually willing to pay more for better customer service, meaning you can leverage a great customer experience with increased pricing. But this is a two way street. Customers that receive poor customer service will take their business to your competitor, exponentiating a decline two-fold.
So how do you do this? It’s not as simple as waving a magic wand and telling your customer service team to “do better.” If you haven’t already, implementing a well-rounded and overall personal customer experience strategy should be your end goal. Providing excellent customer service is just one branch of the CX strategy tree, but it’s a great start to increase revenue. Here are some ways to better your customer service.
Hire for empathy
Yes, job history is important — and it’s understandable that you would want to hire staff that has experience in customer support. But this shouldn’t be the foundation for hire. That foundation, is empathy. Empathy is the universal Rosetta Stone. It speaks all languages and will transcend any of your target markets. The combination of empathy and a strong sales skill set is your best bet at increasing revenue.
Upsell with customer support
It may seem strange or pushy to have customer support try and upsell a customer. But a skilled customer support representative can read customers needs and problems, and find solutions and ways to help them with their problem with other products or services. This is where empathy still comes into play, because without that key component — this process can be pushy and counterproductive.
Simplify for the customer
Customers nowadays are well educated. But make no mistake, they don’t want to do unnecessary work. Customer retention is largely based on how much stress and effort your customer support staff can take off their shoulders. Take away as much of their workload as possible when it comes to contacting or solving an issue.
Give a little
Retail sales are unique. They require a lot of customer support, and more often than not — those interactions are about issues or problems. Give your support team the authority to give discounts, concessions or even a complimentary product or service. Reciprocity creates customer loyalty. If a customer feels their negative customer experience was dealt with fairly, they will return as a customer.
Customer support is a chance to build a real connection. It is an opportunity to not only better the customer experience — but increase revenue. Are you utilizing your customer support team effectively?
