It's something we all strive for yet many businesses still strike out.
My advice: Inspect what you expect. I remember working with a major nonprofit. I asked how quickly they thanked their donors and they said within 48 hours. I had a family member send in a donation online and via mail, two weeks later, no thank you. This gave us an opportunity to discuss the system and changes things. Inspect what you expect.
The SalesForce Blog offers 5 Best Practices for Exceptional Customer Service:
1. Use the Customer's Preferred Channel
As a business, it is your job to provide an omnichannel customer experience with the same quality of service—regardless of how the customer reaches out to you. It's no longer just about the basics, it's about staying on top of how your customers are engaging and anticipating new channels before they even ask for them.
2. Make the Move to Mobile
Your customers are developing a mobile-first mindset in droves — are you? Consider the wealth of options that mobile offers: text messaging, live chat, in-app video conferencing
3. Content is Your Friend
Customers want to feel empowered to solve their own problems and answer their own questions. A crucial tool in enabling them to do so is useful content, like blog posts, webinars, social media posts, or white papers. Not only can you provide your customers with the information they need to help themselves, but content is shareable so that they can spread the wealth with others.
4. Implement Gamification
Gamification is most often associated with sales teams, but the opportunity is there for gamification to transform your service team as well. The goals and targets may be different between the two teams, but the overarching idea is the same: motivation. Realtime contests can encourage reps to engage with their colleagues, strengthening your company culture and improving morale by injecting fun into monotony.
5. Hire an A-Team
No matter what technology or tools a company has at its disposal, a customer service team will not succeed without driven, skillful team members at the helm. This starts with the interview: determining what motivates the interviewee and whether he will be a good cultural fit with your customer service team is the key to getting the right hire.
