It happens to everybody, eventually.
You’ve got an unhappy customer.
And they’ve reached out to you via your support desk.
And your email. And your social media accounts – all of them.
Angry. Frustrated. Maybe a little belligerent.
Perhaps they even want a refund.
*GASP*
So, how do you handle it?
Believe it or not, your answer will probably determine the future of your business.
Customer Service Is One Of Your Most Important Activities As A Digital Marketer
Having a great product and a smoothly flowing sales funnel are great…
But if your customer service department falls short, your business is practically doomed.
On the other hand, providing superior customer service will set you apart from your competition, even those who sell similar products at a lower price point.
Most people are more than happy to pay a higher price for a product that they are able to get exceptional support as opposed to buying one where they receive no help at all.
Knowing that, you will want to continue reading to learn some customer service best practices that will help you provide an excellent customer experience and, in turn, keep your customers coming back for more.
Customer Service Best Practices For Digital Marketers
- Your Help Desk Should Be Easy To Locate. – If your customers are already frustrated with an aspect of your product or service, you can be sure that having to become a master detective in order to contact you about it will make things worse.
Don’t make things more difficult for your customers by ‘hiding’ your support links and/or email address. Make them easy to find, even if your customer has lost their receipt or log-in details. - Answer All Support Requests In A Timely Manner. – Technology is great. It’s how we make a living as digital marketers.
It also provides an easy way for customers to reach out to you, expecting to receive answers quickly.
The longer a customer waits for a reply, the angrier they get. What might have started out with some general confusion could grow into irritation and then anger.
Nobody likes to feel ignored.
If you ignore a support request too long you’ll be dealing with an irate customer who is ready to blast your reputation out of the water in any public forum they can get to.
So, if you don’t have a staff to handle support requests as they come in, be sure to schedule time every day to respond and provide solutions to your customers who have asked for help. - Create a Knowledge Base or FAQ Page For Those Who Like To Figure Things Out Themselves. – For some people, submitting a support ticket is their last resort. Many people actually prefer support that is more ‘self-service’ over dealing with an actual person.
This can save YOU a lot of time as well.
JVZoo has implemented this strategy with our detailed and constantly updated Knowledge Base.
Here, we address the most common questions our Users have and give detailed instructions on how to use the JVZoo platform and all of its Integrations & Features.You can do the same for your business or individual product by creating content that addresses the most frequently asked questions asked by your customers.
This can help you greatly reduce the number of support requests you receive by providing a ‘one stop shop’ for your customers to get the answers to their questions themselves
- Use Your Support Requests To Help You Fix Existing Issues. – If you seem to be getting a lot of support tickets relating to one particular thing, then you know where you’ve got a problem.
Use this knowledge to correct the issue and reduce the number of support issues revolving around it.
The same goes for customer suggestions. If you are getting the same request from a large portion of your customer base, you should consider implementing the feature they feel would be useful to them.
JVZoo receives many great suggestions from our Users in our Official JVZoo Facebook Group and has implemented a lot of them in order to make their use of our platform run smoothly and with the most benefit to their needs.
- If It All Gets To Be Too Much, Hire A Support Staff. – We understand that there are a lot of responsibilities that come with running an online business. When you try to do everything yourself you may find that you’re too overwhelmed to give 100% to every aspect of your company.
When you see that start to happen, or better yet, BEFORE that happens, you should consider outsourcing certain portions of your daily to-do list.
Excellent Customer Service Builds Long-Lasting & Lucrative Relationships
Say THAT five times fast!
When your customers know that they can rely on you to provide swift, helpful responses to their support requests, they will be more likely to do repeat business with you.
Why? Because you have earned their trust.
By showing them that you have not disappeared once you’ve collected payment and sincerely care about their problems, you set the foundation for a long and rewarding relationship with your customers and clients.
On the other hand, failing to provide top-notch customer service can ruin your online reputation and lead to the ultimate demise of your business.
JVZoo takes customer complaints very seriously.
When we receive multiple complaints about a Seller not living up to their responsibilities of providing product support, we do investigate.
And in those few instances when it has been proven that a Seller refuses to provide support after the sale of their product, we have been forced to remove their account.
Don’t let this happen to you!
Don’t Forget To Support Your Affiliates, Too!
If you have affiliates promoting your products for you, you may receive support tickets from them, too.
New affiliates, or those who have been under the 90 Day Delayed Payment status, are counting down the days when they will see their commissions hit their PayPal account.
If they don’t see it when they expect to, you can be sure they will be contacting you.
Whatever you do, DO NOT ignore these support requests!
Those affiliates worked hard to get sales for you.
And while they may not understand exactly how the commission payment process works, it is your responsibility to handle their support tickets the same way you would if they were a customer – quickly, respectfully, and honestly.
Providing Excellent Customer Service Boils Down To This…
Handle your customer support requests the same way you would want yours handled.
Or your Mom’s. Or your Sister’s. Or your Son’s.
Your customer’s happiness should be your #1 priority.
Kept happy, those customers will continue to buy your products and those you recommend, will support your brand and refer other potential customers to you.
Unhappy customers, on the other hand, will leave and spread the word not to do business with you at all.
Which of those scenarios do you prefer?
