Enhancing Customer Service Through Consistency and Feedback

Providing excellent service is at the heart of customer retention, but equally important is offering a repeatable service that meets their expectations. Companies should not only demonstrate exemplary service through their interactions with the customer but also deliver a consistent experience. Approximately 59 percent of consumers say they would leave a brand if they have an inconsistent experience with the customer service.

Customers often associate consistency with reliability, trustworthiness, and positive assurance of quality standards. That consistency, along with matching customers' expectations, go a long way to retaining customers and growing a business.

Improving customer service strategy

One of the most popular and valuable gauges of a business's service performance is online customer reviews. The public ratings and comments give past customers the opportunity to share the pros and cons of their experience in interacting with a company. It also provides a reference point and either a good or bad referral to potential new customers. The ratings and types of online reviews a business receives can play a major role in its success or failure.

Statistics show that 91 percent of consumers pay attention to what is written on online reviews. While it is obvious companies should strive for the most positive reviews as possible, they should not overlook the impact of a negative review. It can offer insight into a potential blind spot and an area of the business that needs improvement. It can also be an opportunity to publicly respond to a dissatisfied customer to fix a problem and show customers a willingness to do so.

Utilizing data and feedback to improve customer experience

Getting customer feedback, whether it is positive or negative, is an important point of information for optimizing a business's performance. It can validate its services or call attention to areas in need of improvement. This real-time customer feedback can be assessed and shared with other departments to immediately address any problems that need to be fixed. It also shows a public commitment to quickly addressing potential issues making operational changes to meet consumer demand.

Customer feedback can also show how a company stacks up in comparison to its competitors. What are some areas which the company outperforms others in the industry? What ways does the business come up short, either in the quantity or quality of its service offerings? Feedback provides valuable information about what customers need and want. Analyzing this data is an opportunity to identify and improve on any shortcomings or optimize existing services to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Pairing consistent service and customer feedback

Providing a consistent service develops trust and loyalty among consumers and establishes a strong brand reputation. Receiving feedback gives a company insight into the thoughts and feelings of their customer base. It can be a valuable tool to improve the overall performance of the business.

Utilizing data from customer feedback and applying changes to ongoing business operations helps a company develop a strategic customer service plan. It can also strengthen tactics for retention and long-term customer relationships.

The full article about how brands can improve their customer service strategy through consistency and feedback can be found here.