If your experience as a business owner has taught you anything, it’s likely this: No two customers are exactly alike.
One great example of this is the ways in which people want to get a hold of your company. Some like to pick up their smartphones and give you a jingle, while others prefer the convenience of live chat.
But to satisfy the needs of as many customers as possible — and not risk losing out on potential sales — it’s important for you to understand the diverse needs and wants of your customers or clients, while continuing to optimize the ways in which people can get in touch with your company.
With this in mind, here are three tangible ways you can help meet the diverse needs of your customers.
1. Embrace Social media
In addition to getting the word out about sales and promotions, new products and services and more, social media can be a terrific way to communicate with your customers. Thanks to social media, you can also offer quick and efficient answers to customers who raise any number of questions or concerns.
Of course, to get the desired feedback you need, make sure your social media channels are publicized on your website, email newsletters and/or place of business. Simply put, add links to your Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram pages on your company website; that way, it will be easy for your social media-loving customers to reach and get in touch with you.
Of course, it’s also important for you and/or felloe employees to regularly check your social media pages for inquiries. You can set up regular updates on your smartphones, so you know when new posts are there and answer the questions as quickly as possible.
2. Maintain a Cloud-Based Call Center
Investing in a call center in the cloud is another great way to provide additional communication options to your customers. But that doesn’t mean you need to go out and spend an exorbitant amount of money to make this a reality. By partnering with third-party providers like Aspect, you can get your hands on software and IVR technology that delivers a seamless customer service experience 24/7.
A call center in the cloud can also collect data from your customers and allow them to communicate via their preferred method; for instance, if a majority of customers prefer live chat, your cloud-based call center can allow that choice to immediately pop up on their computer screen.
For customers who are major early birds or night owls and want to know about color options for one of your products at midnight or 4 a.m., a cloud-based call center will allow them to get their questions answered right away, as opposed to having to wait until the next business day.
3. Offer Outstanding Customer Support
For customers who prefer calling your company, it’s important to not only make your phone number easy to spot on your website, but to also train whoever is answering the calls on how to offer outstanding service.
SQMGroup.com offers a number of testimonials about how customer service reps have provided superior support over the phone. This includes listening and letting your customers vent, if necessary, and using this time to look up their past call history information to personalize the experience as much as possible and quickly answer their questions or solve their issues.
Having Numerous Options is Great!
While you might be a fan of emailing companies when you have a question about a product, as a business owner yourself, it’s important to accept your customers will differ in the way they prefer to reach you.
Once you realize this and add social media, call center and live chat support and more, you can rest assured knowing you’re offering as many choices as possible and have a higher likelihood of providing customers with a superior brand experience.
