What makes a business successful? What motivates the business to keep on thinking afresh? What provides the funds for a business to keep on running? The answer to all these questions is “customers”. As you can well see all these are the core aspects of any business and they are powered by the customers. This is why as a business owner you should always be thankful to the customers for purchasing products or services or doing repeat business with you. They are the most important stakeholders in your company and it is your prime responsibility to keep them happy. If you are not good at it, of course outsourcing call centers is a good option. But the plans of keeping customers happy need to come from your brain, as a business owner. Going crazy behind profits is a good thing, but it should not hamper the quality of customer services or the products. These are the two benchmarks that the customers will judge your brand against.
Thanking a customer means a lot to them. It means more than what the brands realize. It makes them feel special and they are encouraged to extend their relation with the brand for few more transactions. While brands think hard and fast of ways to please their customers, they often miss out on this basic practice. But thanking the customers by the outsourced customer services should be done the right way. This is why we thought of sharing some tips on best ways to thank your customers for their association.
Thank Them for Their Engagement on Social Media: When a customer engages with your brand you should grasp the opportunity to convert the person into a brand evangelist with both hands. People come with an open mind when they are in the social media networks. They can be won over quite easily. If it is an enquiry, make sure the customer service team is immediately onto it. Answer the questions amiably and then do not forget to thank them for getting in touch. Make the message personal. If it is an existing customer, start your conversation by thanking the customer for his/her long term engagement with the brand and then go ahead to address the issue that he/she is facing. When a customer gives you a feedback always get back to the person with a thank you note. It will make the customers feel cared for and imbibe positive vibes.
Personalized Messages: Today the call centers are gathering information from various customer interactions. So, do not become lazy. Use this data to personalize your messages. Look through the data and you will get many facts such as name of the customer, place of residence and many more. Always address the person by the actual name and not the Twitter or Facebook profile name. If the customer has got in touch with you during any festive occasion wish the person for the occasion. If it is a customer who has made repeat purchases pull up the data of his/her purchases and ask how the products or services are doing.
Care for the Brand Advocates: When a customer provides negative review for your products or services, the entire customer service team takes note of it and there are quick fix actions taken to stop the feedback affecting the decisions of others. It is the right way to move, but what about the customers who are strongest advocates for your brand. The people who give good feedback and encourage others to buy from you? These people should be cared for and thanked on time. Never neglect the customers who like what you have to offer. Make sure you search through the social media, review sites or forums to find such positive comments and then thank the customers for these.
Tackling the Negative Stuff Right Way: There are bound to be customers who do not like your services or products, customers who have had a problem with what they have purchased. No brand can claim that neither of their products has ever faced a problem. So, when the same customers share a negative feedback against you, take the matter sportingly and do not engage in a spat. Make sure you understand the problem and then reply back to the customers with a smile. Apologize for the problem and ask them to have some patience while you are trying to find solution. Also thank the customer for honest opinion. It is said that a negative comment is many times more valuable than a positive one, as it throws a spotlight on the grey areas of a brand.
Listening to Customers: When a customer takes the pain of writing something positive or negative, the person expects that the brand would hear him/her. The customer expects that there will be action taken on the problems or betterment suggestions. So, make sure that you understand the sentiments of customers and get back to them with the right kind of words. Always read the messages carefully and then thank the customers for their comment. Also assure the customer that your brand is already taking steps to address the issue and that it would never be repeated in the future days. Don’t just say these things, take action and address the flaws. The customer might give you a second chance, but if you falter again they will move away.
You should be thankful to each and every customer. Take your time to read through their comments, problems and suggestions and get back to them with a thankful note.
I had fun reading this article. I remember this James Ingram song that says that “love her today, find one hundred ways.” I think we can do the same for our customers – that “we thank our customers today and find one hundred ways.” While this is only 5 ways of thanking our customers, it is more than enough to show how we value them.
We should be generous in thanking our customers. First off, we thank them for a great year, for staying with us in spite of the challenges we faced. As 2015 ushers in, we thank them for the relationships we have built with them and finding ways to strengthen it even more. Their relationship is not the attribute of our business but the very foundation of it all. Expressing our gratitude to them should be ingrained deep into our business’ DNA making it our culture. Customers after all are our reasons for success.