One of the premier components of sound business strategy and sustainable growth is exceptional customer service. Fail at this and you’re likely to fail in business. While many business owners invest in product quality, marketing and sales, customer service is an area that warrants the same level of attention. You can start your customer service strategy by identifying the most costly mistakes to avoid. Here are several to review and take measures to avoid at your business.

Relying too Much on Automation

Even if you can automate all of your customer service functions, it is not always necessarily a good idea to do so. Many customers are frustrated by automated response systems, especially when there are serious problems. While you may need this system to reduce costs, make sure you keep it to a minimum and use it only to streamline efficiency. Maintain traditional lines of communication and correspondence with your customers so you always have a live, physical presence with which they can interact. You don’t want to limit your customers’ ability to talk to your team members by overusing automated phone trees. Take a look at your customer service blueprint and see how you are using automation. Is it enabling a more robust customer experience or is it preventing your customers from interacting with your company?

Not Listening

Customer service starts by understanding and recognizing the heart of the issue or question. This means your team must be on point with their listening skills. These are traits that can be institutionalized throughout your organization, as everyone can benefit from being good listeners. Your customer service team in particular can provide a better experience by further developing their listening abilities. Investing in training your team to be active and empathetic listeners will ensure greater success in customer interactions.

Disregarding Customer Service Staff

Your customer service team spends the most time interacting with customers deserve recognition and to be heard. Because of their day—to-day contact with clients, they have insight that is likely useful for business strategy, marketing, sales and to prevent customer service issues from reoccurring. Asking them for their feedback can provide your company with a distinct advantage. In addition, recognizing your customer service staff can go a long way toward keeping them motivated to continue providing a good experience for your customers.

Whether your business is thriving and you can’t keep up, or you are waiting on clients to pay their invoices, Universal Funding can help your growing company. Call us at 855.382.6153 or complete our rate form today to learn more about invoice factoring and how it can improve your company’s cash flow.

Being Reactive vs Proactive

Service providers often make the mistake of reacting to problems instead of foreseeing and preparing for them in advance. This line of thinking can get your business on the receiving end of many problems very fast. This is why taking a more proactive approach to solving problems can set your business up for better customer experiences in the long term. Invest in learning the process, evaluate your chain of command, flow of activity, and design to have the right controls in place to prevent customer service problems from occurring in the first place.

Customer service is a critical component of business success. With many factors and considerations involved, finding the right formula for customer service success can be a challenge. A strong step towards finding this formula is making a checklist of mistakes to avoid. This can make the process easier by identifying potential mistakes. You can create solutions that will fit the mold of your business model. As you strategize with your team, note these common pitfalls and design preventative measures to ensure they do not occur at your business.

Want more ideas to help retain your customers? Download our free white paper 6 Low-cost Customer Retention Activities today.

About Universal Funding

Universal Funding is a private funding source that has funded thousands of businesses and more than $2 billion since 1998. We turn your accounts receivable into the funding you need through invoice factoring and can have capital in your hands in a matter of days.

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