Positive customer interactions and customer satisfaction are essential to every business. How you handle your communication with your customers can make or break your brand the reputation of your practice!
No matter how great the products you carry are or the variety of services you offer, if your customer service is poor and your interactions are negative, people will complain and you’ll lose customers. In fact, companies in the U.S. lose 62 billion dollars a year due to a lack of good customer service. That alone should be enough to encourage you to improve your customer experience.1
The good news is that it’s never too late to prioritize or re-prioritize positive customer interactions and turn things around. Improving your customer service and establishing a positive reputation with your customers won’t happen overnight, but it can be accomplished through commitment and attentiveness.
We have broken down some key elements of good customer service that can lead to positive customer interactions that will benefit both you and your practice:
Awareness
When you respond to a comment on your social media or a review on your website, keep in mind that everything you say is now public and permanent. Private messages can be captured and shared, and even deleted comments can still come back to haunt you. Take a moment before you post anything to be aware of your audience and the possible impact of your interactions.
When interacting face-to-face it’s important to practice active listening and making sure that your communication is clear and you are using positive language.
Tone
Being aware of your tone is also crucial. The easiest way to come across as more approachable is to be aware of your tone of voice.
Different tones of voices convey different attitudes, which affects how a listener perceives you—using the same words but tweaking the tone can be the difference that makes someone appear friendly, supportive, and empathetic versus someone who comes off as cold, urgent, and authoritative.2
Understanding
We all have bad days. When a customer has a bad day and takes out their frustrations on you or your business unfairly, it can be easy to get frustrated or upset and want to fight back.
It’s important to stay calm in these situations. Right or wrong, if you are arguing with customers, it’s not a good look to others who might not know the whole situation. While our natural instinct might be to get defensive and and snap into a negative mindset when dealing with upset customers, it’s better to take a step back and try to be understanding of their feelings rather than escalate the situation further with your own.
If you do make a mistake, own up to it and focus on finding a solution. Customers will be more understanding in return if you are upfront and honest with them.
Customer Satisfaction
Although “the customer is always right,” they may not always be easy to deal with. Learning how to respond to difficult customers is an important step for any business owner, especially those who work in the customer service industry.3 Even businesses with the best products and services are bound to have occasional run-ins with angry customers.
It’s important to consider ways in which you can improve your overall customer satisfaction, even for clients already happy with your products and services. Meeting and even exceeding customer expectations can only benefit your business.
86 percent of consumers will leave a brand they were once loyal to after only two to three bad customer service experiences.4 This means that focusing on customer service and satisfaction in every interaction is essential for retention.
