Ready to transform your everyday customer interactions into genuine connections?
There’s nothing more desirable than having customers who keep coming back to buy more of your product. A growing base of loyal customers means:
- Increased revenue
- Better brand reputation
The issue:
A lot of businesses fail to see past transactions as interactions with real human beings. They tend to rush customers through tickets, drone on about scripted product features and completely forget the human element of customer service.
You can’t expect your customers to stick around if you never truly connect with them.
In this post, we’re breaking down the proven strategies the most successful customer support teams are using to build bridges between your support reps and your customers.
Let’s dive in!
You’ll learn:
- Why Customer Connections are More Important Than Ever
- What’s the Difference Between Good Support and Great Support
- 6 Ways To Transform Simple Interactions Into Meaningful Connections
Why Customer Connections Are Important Than Ever Before
Consumers are more demanding than ever.
In fact, customer expectations have been rising year after year. And they’re only going to continue to rise.
How can you blame them?
Think about the last time you reached out to customer support for a product or service. You didn’t want information fast. You wanted to feel like the person helping you actually cared about resolving your issue.
93% of customers who experience great service are likely to purchase from that business again. That’s crazy!
When a customer talks to a real human being that cares about their problem, they become customers for life. That’s why human connection is so important.
Businesses that know how to build these types of bridges are excelling right now. They’re investing in their employees and teaching every call center representative how to care beyond the script.
Side note:
Higher customer satisfaction = More repeat purchases = Increased revenue.
It’s pretty simple, but it doesn’t happen overnight.
What’s The Difference Between Good Customer Support and Great Customer Support?
Good customer support teams answer your questions. Great customer support teams make you feel like you’re the only customer that matters.
Let’s break this down.
Sure, a good support rep will help you solve your problem. But a truly great support representative will solve your problem and make you feel amazing about doing business with them.
They do this by empathising with you, validating your frustration and following up to ensure you’re happy with the solution.
That’s what separates great from good. According to one study, 73% of customers say they end up falling in love with a brand because of friendly customer service representatives.
Not because of flashy products or low pricing. Friendly human beings.
If you keep this in mind, creating meaningful customer connections will become that much easier.
Leading with empathy, taking ownership of the customer experience and following up with customers are the three major ways you can ensure you’re taking good support and kicking it up a notch.
6 Ways To Transform Bland Interactions Into Memorable Connections
Let’s jump into the strategies.
Here are six simple things you can start doing today to help your support team build better connections with your customers:
Listen First, Respond Second
This cannot be stressed enough.
When a customer contacts your business with a problem, the last thing they want is for you to solve their problem.
They want to feel heard.
So take a breath before you try to solve the problem. Repeat their issue back to them and validate their frustration.
It may seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised at how many people fail to do this.
Humanise The Experience
One of the best ways to make your customers feel connected is to use their name and personalise their experience as much as possible.
Nobody wants to talk to robots. Create a personal experience by mentioning the customers name, referring to past purchases and any other previous conversations you’ve had with them.
Businesses that excel at this train their customer service teams to use their CRM software. When customer support reps know where to find previous conversations, it’s easier to hop right into the interaction.
Empower Your Support Teams
Ever called customer service and got the run around?
“I’ll transfer you to someone that can help.”
Then after 15 minutes on hold you finally speak with someone who could’ve helped you from the get-go.
Transfer after transfer slowly eats away at a customers’ patience. Not only that, but it makes them feel unimportant.
The best way to avoid this train of events? Allow your support teams to help the customer however they see fit.
Sure, some problems require attention from another department. But for minor issues, let your employees use their best judgement.
Follow Up
Closing a ticket as soon as your customer’s issue is solved is a bad idea. Following up with your customer to see if everything is working properly is a genius move.
When was the last time a company contacted you after your issue was resolved just to make sure you were happy? Didn’t think so.
Following up with your customers not only shows that you care about their experience but it allows you to make improvements to your current support model.
Use Their Feedback To Improve
This tip kind of ties into number four but it’s worth mentioning alone.
The best customer service teams use every interaction as a learning experience.
They analyse customer feedback and use it to improve current policies and procedures. Instead of letting the same complaints happen over and over, leaders sit down with their support teams to find ways to prevent them from happening again.
Not only will this improve your customers’ experience, but it will show your support teams that you care about their daily conversations with your customers.
Create A Culture Of Connection
The foundation of any successful business is built on how well your employees understand your customers.
When your teams know who they’re helping and why they’re helping them, they automatically build better connections.
You can do this by offering training sessions, coaching and constantly encouraging your teams to go above and beyond for your customers.
Think of it this way, if your support teams feel taken care of by your company they’ll take care of your customers.
Bringing It All Together
Successful businesses understand that every interaction your customers have with any part of your company shapes their overall perception of your brand.
If you want customers to fall in love with your business, you need to show them you care.
Empathise with your customers, go above and beyond to solve their problems and follow up with them after you’ve provided a solution.
Not only will your customers appreciate it… You’ll see a drastic increase in your customer retention rates and revenue.
Strategies for building better customer connections:
- Listen First, Respond Second
- Humanize The Experience
- Empower your support teams
- Follow up with your customers
- Use customer feedback to improve your support experience
- Build a culture of connection between your employees and customers
