Author: Dreamhost Vendor

There are over 32 million small businesses in the United States. Unfortunately, dealing with angry customers is something that almost every business owner will experience.

Although customer complaints can initially seem overwhelming, they’re easier to handle than most people anticipate. We’ve put together a short guide on dealing with complaints from customers effectively.

Let’s dive in.

Listen to Them

This is a step you cannot overlook.

Listening to customers is crucial when it comes to helping them resolve the issues they have. In context, this means letting them say everything they need before you respond.

Take everything in, process it, and then determine how you are going to react. A common mistake business owners make is reacting before they know everything about the situation.

Illustrate That You Understand Them

Customers not only want to feel heard, but they also want to feel understood. Do your best to convey that you have a full understanding of their issue, why it occurred, and why they feel the way they do.

Acknowledging and validating their sentiment can go a long way when it comes to pacifying them. For example, you could assure them that they are not alone in their problem and that you are fully aware of what they’re going through.

This level of customer communication will go a long way when it comes to customer retention.

Don’t Get Defensive

One of the worst things you can do when handling customer complaints is to get defensive. This escalates the conflict and also gives off the impression that you aren’t willing to take action.

In a situation like this, that individual may turn to a competitor instead. Not only will you lose the customer, but a competitor would gain one. It will also be highly difficult or even impossible to regain their trust after something like this.

Instead, you should take steps to make your response seem as nonthreatening as possible. A great way you can do this is by using the correct language when speaking with them. For instance, you wouldn’t want to use a phrase like “This only happened to you because…”

A good alternative would be “We take full responsibility for the inconvenience you’ve experienced and are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

Convey Your Course of Action

Finally, it’s crucial to convey your course of action. Your customers will want to know exactly what you’re doing to make the situation better.

Remaining transparent is essential so that you can provide insight into the process. Otherwise, they may feel as though you forgot about their issue or didn’t care to fix it.

Handle Customer Complaints With Care

Dealing with customer complaints is never easy. The above information can help make the process much more bearable.

As long as you consider these tips, you should be able to help them overcome the problems they encounter.

Feel free to get in touch with us at XACT today. We offer premier customer support solutions that can help take your business performance to the next level.

Almost 50% of US businesses fail within two years of starting. However, there are certain measures you can take to avoid this.

One of the most important aspects of running a successful business is properly managing your customer relationships.

This involves having a solid strategy in place when it comes to how you respond to a customer inquiry. Let’s look at how you can handle them efficiently and maximize customer satisfaction.

1. Canned Responses

These are pre-made responses that inform your customers that someone will be with them shortly. Although they often won’t resolve issues on their own, they avoid a situation where a customer submits an inquiry and doesn’t receive a response.

This could cause them to lose faith in your company and turn to a competitor instead. Canned responses are best kept as general statements, such as “We’ve received your inquiry and a customer service representative will contact you shortly.”

Just be sure to minimize your response time so that you don’t keep your customers waiting. Otherwise, canned responses won’t do much to help the situation.

2. Outsourcing

This is a notably effective way to improve your response times—especially for small businesses.

Outsourcing ensures that your customers can always get in touch with someone when they need to. It can also allow companies to handle customer inquiries after business hours, which will greatly improve the level of customer service they can provide. However, it’s essential that you outsource to reputable businesses.

The way they handle customer inquiries could mean the difference between fixing a problem or damaging your relationship with them. To find the best company to outsource to, research its past reputation and see what other customers have had to say. You should also ensure they’ve worked with businesses like yours in the past.

3. Use AI

Using artificial intelligence can significantly reduce the time it takes to respond to your customers. In some cases, it may even be able to help them find an answer to their question or concern.

For instance, let’s assume a customer wants to know your business’s hours of operation on holidays. An AI program could instantly reply with this information, or it could direct them to a resource where they can find what they’re looking for.

Otherwise, they might not be able to find the information they need when they need it. This could create problems later on and strain the relationship you have with them.

Handle Each Customer Inquiry Appropriately

To get the most out of your customer relationships, it’s essential to treat each customer inquiry with care.

Consider the guidelines above so that you can develop a comprehensive response strategy that can resolve issues as soon as possible. Feel free to get in touch with our team at XACT today. We’re ready to help take your customer service response times to the next level.

If you’re in a line of business that regularly communicates with and serves customers, you will need the assistance of a company that can help. There are plenty of tools you can use that will improve how you communicate, including XACT.

Just a 5% increase in your customer retention can deliver greater than double the revenue. Boosting customer retention is one of the most critical things that XACT can do for you. So, how can XACT improve your company?

These tips will help you out when you’re trying to create a customer retention strategy that works.

It Works Seamlessly and Organically

One of the main factors you’ll enjoy from XACT is that it seamlessly and organically improves your customer service. Rather than being intrusive, it acts as a natural extension of what you already do well.

When you’re looking into the best services for your customer retention strategy, you’ll need to get a detailed outline of what they offer. You’ll get access to multiple tools that you can integrate with a single platform.

There Are a Variety of Customer Communication Tools

With XACT, you’ll have the chance to cycle between different infrastructures. This lets you communicate with customers in a variety of places so that no message is missed. Some examples of the communication tools you’ll have access to include:

• An answering service for your telephone line
• Chat-based customer service platforms
• E-mail-based support
• Cloud storage and communication tools
• Help desk support

Rather than shoehorning your company into a static form of communication, you’ll have an expansive variety of tools that can act as an extension of your company’s customer service.

It Helps With Brand Identity and Client Retention

More than anything, you need the public to understand that your brand is helpful and reliable. When you use XACT, customers will know that there’s a helpful person on the other end whenever they decide to get in touch. This improves your rapport with customers, along with your brand identity.

When your customers know that they are heard and helped, you will also improve customer retention. Increased customer retention can grow your sales margins and help you hit your company goals each quarter.

Bolstering your brand identity is one of the best things that you can do for your company. The tools that you use will build uniformity with your brand and support your message.

You Can Troubleshoot More Effectively

Finally, XACT is also helpful because you’ll be better able to troubleshoot within your company. The help desk information gives you the chance to issue tickets to your customers so that you can track and follow up with issues.

Messages won’t get lost in translation, and you’ll have a better opportunity to serve your clientele.

Revamp Your Customer Retention Strategy With XACT

XACT is an essential tool when you’re trying to revamp and rework your customer retention strategy. The best thing you can do is learn all about this platform and how it can help you.

XACT can help you take care of all your customer service needs. Take time to contact us directly or give us a call at 1-877-XACT-877 for more information.

No matter the shape or size of your company, your success often depends on how you engage your customers. At no time is this truer than at their time of need?

Research has shown that 74% of customers globally expect genuine human interaction at all stages of their experience with a brand. This means that to succeed, you must ensure that your customer support service offers the human touch.

If you’re wondering how you can improve the customer call center experience to ensure genuinely satisfied customers, check out these essential call center best practices that you can integrate.

Well-Trained Staff Is Crucial

The secret to a positive customer experience is having well-trained agents. At XACT, we ensure that all our agents are well-versed in the customer journey and prepared to answer any question your customers might have effectively.

We also ensure that our agents are fluent in the art of good service so that every call can be a positive customer experience.

When your agents are well-trained, they are confident, comfortable in their role, and better equipped to deliver the service your customers deserve.

Always Know Your Customer

Keeping customers happy requires your agents to know who they are and why they are calling.

In fact, one study from Microsoft showed that most customers now expect call center staff to know who they are when they pick up the phone.

While it might not be possible for agents to know everything at the start of a conversation, simply making sure they take the time to get to know the person on the other end of the line can make a huge difference.

Knowing your customer means better service. It also means a speedier resolution and high satisfaction levels.

Keep Hold Times to a Minimum

This one might seem obvious, but it bears repeating. No one likes to be left on hold. The longer a customer is left on hold, the higher the chance of a negative customer experience.

You should always invest in your call center resources to keep hold times low.

Find out exactly what call volumes you can expect and when. Use this information to ensure that someone will be able to pick up the phone when they are needed.

Offer a Live Chat Service

While the human touch is important, it doesn’t always have to be over the phone. Most customer service inquiries can be solved in a very short span of time.

They may relate to routine questions about billing or how to use a service you offer. For these low-level inquiries, it might be worth investing in an online live chat service.

This can act as a filter, ensuring that only those with more complex questions actually pick up the phone. This frees up more resources and ensures better customer service.

Choose a Trusted Partner for Your Customer Call Center

Getting your customer call center right is no easy task. Nobody wants to be on the phone with customer service, so it’s your job to make this routine chore a pleasant experience that improves your company’s relationship with the customer.

For this, we are here to help.

At XACT, we offer tailor-made solutions to your customer service needs, and highly skilled agents that can solve your customer’s problems, whatever they are. Don’t hesitate to get in touch to find out how we can help.

If you don’t think answering phone calls at your business with proper phone call etiquette is important, then look at this statistic. 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience.

Answering phone calls is one of the most important ways customers interact with your brand, and it’s a great opportunity to ensure they have a positive experience. With that in mind, basic etiquette can go a long way when answering phone calls.

Not only will this help ensure your customers are well taken care of, but it will also help create an overall professional atmosphere for your company. Read on for some tips about answering phone calls and the importance of proper etiquette.

Tips for Answering Phone Calls

The last thing you want to do as a business is let calls go to voicemail. This is particularly true if your customers or clients need assistance with time-sensitive issues. Aside from answering quickly when receiving a call, here are other phone etiquette tips to improve customer service efficiency.

Three Rings

How quickly should you be answering phone calls at your business? Answering a business call within three rings is important because it shows that you care about your customers. When you pick up the phone quickly, your customers will know you value their time and are ready to help them.

Answering the phone also prevents your customers from getting frustrated or feeling ignored. Remember, you represent your company when you answer the phone, so answer it promptly and with a friendly voice! How can you do that? You can remember to…

Introduce Yourself

Introducing yourself creates a friendly and welcoming environment for customers to ask questions or make requests comfortably. It also makes the conversation more personal, which can help build a better relationship between you and your customers.

By identifying yourself, you are showing respect to the caller and acknowledging their importance to your business. Depending on the types of calls you answer, this also provides them with the name of an employee or point of contact in case they need further assistance.

Actively Listen

Ensure you’re actively listening as they speak to you about their questions or concerns. Give them space to clearly explain the issue without interrupting. Don’t assume you know what they’re talking about simply because you’ve received a similar call.

Speak Clearly

Being articulate is key as you start to respond to the customer’s complaints or questions. Speaking clearly is vital because it helps ensure that your message is understood. This is particularly important if your conversation involves important information or details about:

• Products
• Services
• Payment

Clear communication also prevents misunderstandings or confusion, which can result in costly mistakes.

Be Professional

Finally, always ensure you have professional calls. Speak with a professional tone and offer professional suggestions to issues. Avoid getting emotional, even if the caller is emotional or upset. Stay calm and speak respectfully to the person on the call.

Professional Call Center Services

Need help to answer phone calls? We understand. Many businesses can’t train employees on phone etiquette. Or, they can’t hire in-house customer service support teams to manage incoming calls.

That’s what we’re here for. At XACT, we offer telephone answering services with 24/7 coverage to support your business. Let our team of customer service and phone specialists answer your calls for you in a professional, respectful manner.

Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help.