Learning to listen to your customers is essential to go above and beyond with your customer service. When you know how to listen, you’ll begin to hear about what they want and need from your brand. Getting your customers to talk isn’t as hard as you think.
You can use the ideas below for inspiration.
Surveys
You want to send out a survey to your customers at least once a year. This allows you to track your industry’s growth, predict trends before they become hot, and see gaps in your niche that no one else is filling.
Be aware of the timing when you send out a survey. A survey sent in the middle of the holiday season isn’t likely to receive much attention, and you may only get a handful of subscribers to participate. But a survey sent out in the middle of January when the holidays are over will get a much better response rate.
Suggestions
Keep a form on your website open constantly just for suggestions. Your customers might suggest content ideas, feedback on a current product, or questions about your services. When customers take the time to fill out your suggestion box, it means they care a lot about your business. So let them know you value their thoughts and periodically remind them that you have a suggestion box if they’d like to share their ideas.
Set up a form on your website with questions to help you write a case study. Start by asking for some basic information from your customers. Ask for their names, ages, marital status, and location. Details like these help set the stage for writing your case study later.
Then go deeper by asking customers to describe their life before trying your product or service. What was their business, marriage, or life like before your brand? Were they happy? What was bugging them?
Ask your customers how their lives have changed since they implemented your product. Did they get out of debt thanks to your financial success product? Did they finally have enough for that dream vacation they always wanted, thanks to your work-at-home product?
Don’t forget to ask for a picture of your customer. Your case study will interest more people if you include your customer’s vision.
Extra Services
Testimonials
Case studies tend to be longer and more in-depth than testimonials. Both are good ways to generate interest in your product or service. But due to the transient nature of testimonials, it’s easier to gather these from customers than case studies. Customer service and your clients can provide you with referrals that will exponentially expand your business.
Make a testimonial form on your website. Ask open-ended questions that encourage more than simple ‘yes or no answers. For example, ask customers about their biggest fear before buying your product. Ask them why they chose you over a competitor or what other products they’ve tried previously.
Make It Beautiful
When a customer gives you a testimonial or provides a case study, turn it into a beautiful image. At the bottom of your image, include your website address. Then share the image on your blog, in your social media circles, and with your mailing list.
Your customer will be so proud to be featured that they’ll share it, too. This exposes your brand to even more potential customers and can help you grow your business in new ways.
Customers are eager to share their opinions when you give them the opportunity. Feedback forms like surveys and case studies show your customers that you care about what they want.
No Excuses! It’s time to take your customer service above and beyond. Do that now by downloading your free workbook.
Today’s article is about your Membership Conservation Efforts. This may or may not pertain to your current business model, but the information is worth a read.
You probably email your members monthly to deliver their content if you have a membership website. But if you want your members to stay subscribed, you should be emailing more often. Frequent messages keep your members engaged with your brand and make it less likely that they’ll suddenly cancel their membership with no warning. Ideally, you want to be emailing your subscribers once a week.
Types of Emails
Week #1: The Delivery Email
This email should contain a link to the new content you have available. Let subscribers know where to log in to download their content and provide their usernames. Then take it a step further and offer them help if they can’t access their content for some reason.
You could say, “If you’re having trouble downloading your content this week, open a ticket with my help desk by clicking here.” This will ensure that you don’t have people unsubscribing simply because they couldn’t get help when needed.
Week #2: The Reminder Email
You want to use this message to remind subscribers about this month’s content. Some subscribers may have missed your original email, or they may not have had a chance to download it on the day of release.
Encourage subscribers to download their content by telling them a little about it. For example, if you’re a wellness coach that provides nutritious recipes for families, you could say, “My kids love the applesauce muffin recipe I included this month. They asked me to put these muffins in their back-to-school lunches.”
Week #3: The Teaser Email
Use this email to tease your subscribers about what’s coming up next. The teaser email makes them curious and gives them a reason to stay subscribed. This doesn’t have to be a long email, and you shouldn’t include everything that you’ll be giving them next month because you want to keep a bit of mystery about what they’ll be getting.
You could say, “Just wanted to give you a head up. Next month, I’ll be giving you [item]. I love this because [reason].” It’s a simple message, but it gives you a reason to stay in contact and keeps your brand fresh in your subscribers’ minds.
Week #4: The Expiration Email
This is your chance to remind subscribers that the current month’s content will expire soon. Urge them to download it while there’s still time. You could say, “This is the final call to download your content. I’ll remove this month’s content when I upload next month’s resources. I don’t want you to miss out, so click here to log in and save your content.”
Make the Emails Personal
Try to be personal in every email you send to your subscribers. Let them know what’s going on in your life or business. You could say, “Happy September! I enjoyed this summer. But the kids are back at school again, so I’m gearing up to set my autumn business goals.”
You want to weave in these details because it strengthens your connection with your subscribers and gives you a chance to tell them about other neat stuff you may have going on.
Keeping your subscribers engaged with your content is one way to go above and beyond with your customer service. Little touches like consistent emails will make your brand memorable to your subscribers.
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You can add a personal touch to your customer service when you use postcards or greeting cards to reach out to your customers. They make your customers feel valued, and in an increasingly digital world, your brand stands out when you send a card or gift through the postal system.
Look for One of A Kind Cards
If you are sending a card, make it something special. Skip the cheap, blank notecards, and don’t go for bland. You want to send a card that your customers will pin to their bulletin board or share on social media. You want a special card. Once your customer knows it is not junk mail.
One place where you can find unique and original cards is Etsy. There are hundreds of hand-made greeting cards that you can search for on the site. You can even have one custom designed for your customer if you want.
Try Send Out Cards
Another option that you may want to consider is Send Out Cards. This is a website where you can select a greeting card you like and have it sent to your new customers. It works similarly to stock photo sites in that you buy credits for a certain amount of money. You use your credits to purchase cards and upload your signature, so it looks like you signed the card. Then it’s sent out like a regular letter to your customer.
Send Out Cards will let you keep a contacts database to send birthday cards to your customers. But it’s not just for birthdays—there are plenty of holiday-themed cards to choose from, too. Whether your clients celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah, you’re sure to find a card that’s right for them. Using postcards and Send OutCards makes it easy for your business to use.
Use Reminders to Make Personal Connections
Your new client just mentioned she’s expecting a little one in six months. Pause to add this info to your calendar and set a reminder ahead of time. You can put something simple like, “Jane’s baby is due in June. Send a card.”
Sites like Send Out Cards, have a gift area that’s perfect when you want to add something special to your card. You can send your customers a treat like a fantastic brownie or tasty fudge. Of course, you can opt for a non-food item if you prefer. You can include a gift like a necklace, a toy plush, a beautiful scarf, or any number of genuine products.
Sending out cards to your customers is a small personal touchthat will delight them. It shows that you care not only about their business but also their lives. When your customers feel you care, they are excited to work with you.
Today’s article is about making customer phone calls. A straightforward way to go above and beyond in your customer service is to start calling new customers when they purchase from your site. The goal of your call isn’t to sell your customer something else or convince them to upgrade what they bought. Instead, you want to use this call to thank them for their purchase.
Offering Help To Your Customers
After you thank your customer, ask if they need any help. Please make sure they can download the product they bought. If they couldn’t access the product, help them do that immediately. You may have to send another login link, explain how to save a product, or guide them into finding where their downloads are stored on their device.
When making new customer phone calls, you may also want to ask follow-up questions to give insight into the purchasing process. For example, you might say, “Did anything trip you up while you were buying? If so, would you share that with me so I can fix it for future customers?”
Touch Base With Your Customers
Sometimes, you’ll follow up after a new customer purchases a service from you, like coaching or virtual assistance. In these cases, use your follow-up call to learn something about your customer. So when making new customer phone calls, use the information to your advantage.
You might say, “I’m calling you to thank you for your business and ask if there’s anything you need from me. We’ll be in touch later on, but in the meantime, is there one thing you want me to know about you before we begin working together?”
Your customer may share insights into their lives by saying, “I want you to know that my son’s getting married this year. I’m super focused on making more money in less time to enjoy this season with my family. That’s why I signed up for your services.”
Keep It The Follow-up Call Quick
Since your call is unsolicited, be mindful of how long you keep your new customer on the phone. A short window to aim for is around five minutes. Your call might last longer if a customer needs help or points out a problem. But as a general rule, you want to keep your call quick.
Let Your Virtual Assistant Call
If you get a sudden influx of new customers, you may not be able to handle all of the follow-up calls yourself. In this case, it can be helpful to outsource these chats to a virtual assistant that you trust. Tell your VA to reach out to new customers and make a personal connection.
You can even create a brief script if you want to. Something simple usually works best. Your VA might say, “Hi, I’m Jodie, and I handle tech support for Solopreneur Services, LLC. I wanted to thank you for your recent purchase of ABC product. Were you able to download it successfully and use it?”
Your virtual assistant should also use this opportunity to share a phone number or email address where the consumer can reach support if they need it later. Little touches like that may not seem like much at first, but they make customers positively view your brand.
Give your customers remarkable customer service, and they will pay attention. The more you serve them, the more they’ll want to tell others about your brand, and your business will flourish.
Discover how to make exceptional customer service the cornerstone of your brand when you download your free workbook.
Are you Using Follow-Up Emails and Autoresponders with your clients? If you’re not, you should be. I’ll explain why below.
When it comes to going above and beyond to provide exceptional customer service, don’t forget about usingfollow-up emails and autoresponders. These two tools are some of the most powerful ones you can use.
Welcome Your New Customer
The first email message your customers should receive is a welcome email. In this email, you’ll want to give access to the product or service your customer purchased and tell them how to ask for help if needed. You could say something simple like, “Need help? Hit reply to this message and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours.”
Follow Up Promptly
You’ll want to send a follow-up email about 48 hours later. Ask if your customer received everything they needed and give them a second link to download the product they bought. If they had to sign up to download their product, remind them to log in with their username and password.
A third email message should be sent 10-20 days after the original purchase. If you sold an information product, ask your customer if they’ve put what they’ve learned from you into practice yet. By Using Follow-Up Emails and Autoresponders will help your customers trust that you have their best interest at heart.
You can even highlight a customer that did and share how they used your product. For example, you might say, “Shannon purchased my course on affiliate marketing and noticed her affiliate earnings climb as soon as she implemented the first two lessons.”
Give a Status Update
If your customer has purchased a service from you, then you can use this email message to give an update on your project. For example, you might say, “I’ve been working on that e-book for you and I’m halfway through it. I expect to be finished by [date]. In the meantime, are there any questions you have that I can answer?”
Updating your clients about the status of your project may seem like a small thing. But it puts customers’ minds at ease and lets them know you’re still working hard.
Use Reminder Emails
If you’re selling a service, set an autoresponder to follow up after three months. Use this email to ask if you can be of any further service. This can jog a client’s memory and remind them to assign a project to you they’d forgotten about.
You can also use this reminder email to ask for a testimonial. You might say something simple like, “I enjoyed collaborating on your project. I’d love it if you’d share your experience working with me in the form of a short testimonial.”
When your customer service goes above and beyond, your customers will love you for it. They’ll enjoy using your products or services so much that they’ll become brand ambassadors that share how awesome your business is with everyone they know.
Learn the secrets of great customer service when you download your free workbook!
