20 Ways to Easily and Instantly Improve Customer Service

Providing superior service to customers during all interactions can be a daunting task for some small business owners. Excellent service should be your constant priority, but sometimes a busy SMB owner can have trouble keeping up with all the moving parts of their business. 

To help you out, here are 20 ways you can easily and instantly improve customer service as early as today.    

Easy Ways to Improve Customer Service Instantly

1. 1.) Answer Your Telephone  

It may sound silly, but the simple act of answering your business line every single time it rings will instantly increase your customer satisfaction levels. Someone is calling your business because they need you; answer their call and be available.   

1. 2.) Solve a Problem Weekly

If you make a commitment to solving one problem a week, by the end of the year, you’ll have solved over 50 problems within your organization. Choose problems that are related to customer service and focus on finding solutions that keep your customers happy.  

1. 3.) Take a Customer Service Call

Find time in your day to personally take a customer service call every now and then. Remember that, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

1. 4.) Create a FAQ Website Page

Your customers are satisfied when they can find the information they seek quickly and effortlessly. If your website doesn’t have a section dedicated to answering your business’s FAQs, it’s time to start writing that content. 

1. 5.) Google Your Business

Open yourself up to listening to what your customers are saying about your company, products and/or services. Read all reviews and make note of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement.         

1. 6.) Be Your Own Customer

Want to instantly improve customer service with a really easy fix? Use your product and/or service daily. If your product doesn’t meet your own high standards – being the customer – you’re going to want to make changes until your 100% happy and satisfied.   

1. 7.) Talk to Your Staff 

Call a staff meeting and ask lots of questions. Find out if your team has any suggestions to improve customer service. Reward employees that take initiative.   

1. 8.) Send a Satisfaction Survey

Shoot an email to everyone on your customer list and politely ask them for their feedback. For tips on organizing a satisfaction survey read: 5 Creative Ways to Gather Customer Feedback.

1. 9.) Add a Search Function Now  

Your website needs a search function if you’re sharing content. A search function is a feature that allows your visitors to easily find information on your website. You can place a free one on your site or have your developer build one.  

1. 10.) Anticipate Customers’ Needs

Start training your team to think about anticipating your customers’ wants and needs so you’re always ahead of the game.  

1. 11.) Offer Human Assistance 

Not everyone wants to send a message or email; some of your customers want to talk to a human being. Give your customers a chance to speak one-on-one with a live representative and instantly improve customer service.

1. 12.) Start a Team Challenge

Break up your employees into teams and create an employee contest to encourage healthy competition. Make customer service the main challenge and reward the winners with prizes they can use as a team.   

1. 13.) Lower Your Hold Times

When calling a business, “75% of customers believe it takes too long to reach a live agent.” Have the phone coverage you need to decrease your customers hold times. Consider outsourcing calls to a digital call center that only charges for the calls they take on your behalf.  

1. 14.) Call Old Customers

Look at your customer lists and reach out to anyone that has not purchased from you recently. Start a conversation and try to learn why they’ve been away and how you can earn back their business.  

1. 15.) Say Please and Thank You

Offer courteous customer service and watch how even just a small display of manners will increase your overall customer satisfaction.

1. 16.) Offer Multilingual Assistance 

Nothing says close personal attention like offering customer service in your caller’s native language. This customer service booster will help you reach broader markets and cater to new customers.

1. 17.) Enter Customer Service Contests

No matter what industry you’re in, you can find a customer service contest to enter. Having your service monitored is going to keep your employees on their toes. It’ll also help you understand how to improve your customer service practices based on the grades received.    

1. 18.) Create Customer Service Policies 

Before an employee answers customer service calls on behalf of your company, you have to first put them through extensive training. And before you can train anyone, you need a set of rules, policies and procedures when it comes to your expectations.

1. 19.) Make Time to Write Content 

A large part of providing elite service is making sure that your customers are constantly assisted. Start writing How To articles that help your audience solve a specific problem.

1. 20.) Offer 24/7 Customer Service

Allow your customers to reach out with their questions and orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Offering a 24-hour hotline shows your customers that you take their time and satisfaction very seriously.

Try as many of these tips as possible if you want to instantly improve customer service in your business.

Need Help Improving Your Customer Service? 

If you need help, we have award winning virtual receptionists that would be able to give you 24-hour phone coverage. Give us a call today at 1-800-785-6161 to speak with an account specialist and receive a custom quote.