6 Ways to Make Every Interaction with Customers Fantastic

Customer expectations have evolved from merely purchasing a quality product at a competitive price to seeking more meaningful and fulfilling interactions. In order to stand out from the competition and persuade customers to choose you over them, you need to cultivate a relationship that goes beyond sales and customer support.
 

For a business to succeed, customer retention is as important, if not more, than customer acquisition. While marketing takes care of the latter, memorable and pleasant interactions are what make customers come back. It even converts them into brand ambassadors as they spread the word about how you put your customers first, and we all know how powerful word-of-mouth marketing can be.
 

If you’re looking to up your customer service game and become a brand that people love to interact with, here are six ways in which you can make every customer interaction amazing.
 

1. Make it easy for customers to get in touch with you

A huge part of strong customer interaction is dependent on how a customer reaches you. If they have a complaint, a suggestion, or they want to reach out and say thank you--what’s the best way to do that? One of the ways is to have your contact information clearly laid out on your website. However, if you want to further engage the customers and make it easy for your customer service team to track all the conversations, then you could create a domain name such as www.wehearyou.space or www.talktous.online or www.name.online wherein “name” could be the name of your business.
 

Advertise these domain names on your social media and newsletter to make it easier for customers to know where to go if they want to reach you. The easier you make it for them to reach you, the more brownie points you earn for customer satisfaction.
 

2. Know your customers

Before you talk to a customer, whether it’s to all your customers through a marketing campaign on social media or a single customer over a call, you must know who they are. This gives you a better understanding of what their issues are, what they like and dislike, and how they like communicating, which helps you better formulate your response.
 

Marketers are aware of the role buyer personas play in finding the right customers and communicating with them effectively. A buyer persona includes all the characteristics of your ideal customer, from age and income to hobbies and values, combined into a fictitious person. Every marketer must have these personas on hand when they are coming up with their marketing strategy.
 

But knowing your customers is equally important for customer-facing teams such as sales and customer service. In fact, these teams should go beyond and try to get to know their customers personally before they interact with them. Most businesses will have files on their most frequent customers. Refer to them before you talk to these customers. Even knowing something about their purchase history could help make your interaction more fruitful. For instance, you can ask them whether their recently purchased item is working out for them or if they need any assistance with it. This shows that you’re paying attention and your concern goes beyond the matter that you’re discussing.
 

3. Talk like a human

Every business has a customer service checklist and some framed responses to the most common questions. They are put in place as a guide to equip every team member to interact with customers as well as to make solutions quicker and more seamless. While it is important to adhere to these guidelines, they should not be considered sacrosanct.
 

The customer, after all, is a human being, not a machine with a manual, and so is your company’s representative. The beauty of human interactions lies in spontaneity, empathy, and humor. It’s the difference between talking to a chatbot and a real human. As a customer, what would you prefer? A chatbot will never understand a person like another person can.
 

Reading off your customer interaction docket can seem cold and clinical. Stick to its basic guidelines so that the information you offer is accurate, but don’t shy away from infusing your interaction with the best parts of your personality. Ask how they are doing. Have a chat about your common interests (even if it’s about the weather or how crazy the COVID-19 pandemic has been). If talking in person, don’t shy away from complimenting them. Crack a joke or two, if humor is your strong point. A memorable interaction is one that goes beyond the customer-business relationship. By being empathetic, entertaining, and just yourself, you can truly make someone’s day.
 

4. Be transparent

A business is defined by the people who run it, and people make mistakes. Even the most well-established companies slip every now and then. It is possible that, even if you have the best-in-class manufacturing practices in place, a particular product might fail. It may suffer from damage during delivery. Your payment system may malfunction and overcharge a customer. A customer service representative may have communicated inaccurate information.
 

These occurrences are common, but they need not become a customer service disaster. What can be disastrous are false assurances or denials. As humans, we all appreciate those who take responsibility for their actions and offer honest and effective solutions. If the business made a mistake, the best thing to do is to apologize and rectify the error as soon as possible. However, some issues take longer to resolve, and this should be communicated to the customer so that they are mentally prepared. If something will take 10 days, don’t say 5, just to calm them down. Offer them alternative solutions in the meantime. If it’s a really big mistake, make up for it by offering a discount.
 

No matter how serious the issue, make sure you tell it like it is. Convey your commitment to resolving it through actionable solutions within a realistic timeline, even if it’s longer than what the customer would have preferred.
 

5. Surprise your customers

We all love surprises. They make us feel special and cared for. This isn’t something a person expects from a business, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. Fantastic customer interaction is all about going the extra mile. It doesn’t have to be restricted to when you’re providing customer support. Surprise them every now and then to show them that you’re thinking about them, even when they’re not buying something from you.
 

There are several situations that present the opportunity to pleasantly surprise your customers. The most obvious ones are special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. Wish your customers, thank them for their patronage and send them a gift in the form of a discount coupon or a freebie.
 

You can also send such gifts to your top 10 most frequent customers on festivals or business anniversaries. If someone writes you a positive review for the first time, show them your appreciation with a small surprise. If you have a new product or an initiative, invite your most loyal customers for a demo and feedback session. If a frequent customer tends to shop for a particular kind of product, send them a pre-order invite for something new that you think they might like.
 

6. Take care of your team

Your employees are as important as your customers. Without them, there would be no business. Making sure that they perform to the best of their abilities goes beyond training. Think about what benefit an employee earns by going the extra mile in their customer interactions. Sure, an unpleasant or unprofessional interaction may lead to them losing their job. But we all know that fear isn’t the best motivator. Incentives, on the other hand, work fabulously.
 

The first thing you, as a manager or a business owner, can do is to get to know as many of your employees by name as possible. Next, while you keep track of their performance, appreciate them whenever they do well. This shows that their good work isn’t going unnoticed and motivates them to keep putting in their best. If a customer specifically mentions how a particular team member or department surpassed their expectations, make sure to convey the appreciation.
 

If a team member has gone above and beyond to help out a customer, reward them with a bonus or a gift. Not only will it make them feel like a valued member but it will also motivate others to perform better.
 

Finally, never throw your team members under the bus. It doesn’t help resolve a customer’s issue sooner but reflects poorly on you as a leader and demotivates your staff.
 

Conclusion

Taking care of your customers goes beyond being available and solving problems. It’s not enough to have a 24-hour live chat, although that can be quite beneficial. It’s about bringing your best self to every interaction, even if you’re dealing with an unpleasant situation. It’s about trusting your judgment, being authentic, and putting yourself in other’s shoes. In the end, it’s all about the people, whether they’re your customers or your employees.

 

This guest post was written by Alisha Shibli. Alisha is a Senior Content Marketing & Communication Specialist at Radix, the registry behind some of the most successful new domain extensions, including .ONLINE and .TECH. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.