Good Customer Service: 5 Things Customers Want

We all get it. When it comes to their interactions with you, customers want certain things, and if they don’t get those things they are likely to turn to someone else. This is not news to us (or at least it really shouldn’t be). For most companies, good customer service is something that requires constant attention, and is often a common pain point that team members have to deal with on a regular basis.

So what is it exactly that customers are looking for when it comes to dealing with you? Here are the top 5 things people expect when it comes to good customer service.

1.     Customers want you to meet their expectations. Making promises that never materialize? Customers notice, and with the rise of social media, they are not keeping quiet about it anymore! Meeting customers’ expectations is critical in today’s competitive marketplace – no matter the industry. It is far too easy to just hop online and search for a company that can offer exactly what you do. Maintaining customer loyalty is incredibly difficult, and when you are not meeting (and exceeding) expectations, you are really just giving clients an excuse to find a new supplier.

2.     Customers want to be able to contact you in different ways. Some people want to be able to pick up the phone and speak to you. Others would rather pick up their mobile device and shoot off an email. Still others, although this is probably a very small minority, continue to rely on snail mail as their preferred method of communication. Giving people a variety of options as far as getting in touch with you helps give each person what they want.

3.     Customers want to hear back from you today, not next week. When a customer calls or emails you, they are probably expecting to hear back from you in a reasonable amount of time. Sure, not all calls or emails can be answered right away – just don’t wait too long. Again, this is just giving someone an excuse to contact a competitor.

4.     Customers don’t want to be treated like a number. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 clients or 100 clients – every single one of them wants to feel as if they are the only client. Providing personalized service, rather than canned responses, is the best way to let customers know that you care about them.

5.     Ultimately, customers want you to solve their problems. Unfortunately, very rarely will a client call you to say that you are doing a great job. Most times, those attempts at contact are in response to a problem that requires a solution, and that client is looking to you to provide it. Listening to the issue at hand, and then finding a solution, is the best way to keep that client happy. 

Although it can take a bit of effort, good customer service is the best way to achieve brand loyalty and recognition. At PTI, we are committed to providing the highest level of customer service, in a timely fashion. Call us today at 1-800-303-5883.

Customer Service: Building Great Client Relationships

Building great client relationships takes work. We all know this. No matter the industry you are in, encouraging lasting and trusting relationships with your clients needs to be a crucial consideration. Even if you are the best at what you do, if your customer service leaves something to be desired, your relationships will inevitably suffer.

Here are some of the top customer service tips that help to promote customer loyalty and build trust.

Ask questions – and not just “is there anything else I can help you with.” This mundane inquiry is offered far too often, and is usually met with little response. To boost your customer service levels, why not try something along the lines of “is there any way that we could better serve and meet your needs?” Giving just that little bit more, even just phrasing the question differently, offers clients the chance to think about a response and recognize that you are concerned about their concerns.

Be positive. Getting frustrated, no matter the situation, is never a good thing. Customers notice, and are not likely to forget a negative interaction. Diffusing a negative situation can work wonders as far as demonstrating that you are there to help, and will do whatever it takes to solve a problem. Always try your hardest to end things, even bad things, on a positive note.

Deliver: do what you say you are going to do. Firstly, don’t make promises you can’t keep – clients will remember. Being unable to deliver on a promise will only make the client question your abilities with everything else. If you say that you are going to do something, don’t delay it and force the client to remind you about it – do it as soon as possible.

Encourage involvement. If a client wants to be involved, let them (as long as this involvement is not interference). Many clients like to be involved in a process, and this helps to create a partnership-like environment that encourages trust. On the flip-side, if a client doesn’t seem to want to be involved, and would rather have you complete a project from start to finish with the least amount of involvement as possible, honour this.

Be available. One of the worst pain points when it comes to customer service is unavailability. If a client is trying to reach you, but can’t, they may just find someone who is available when the next project comes up. If a client calls, return their call. If they email, get back to them. This is just common sense – but common sense that can sometimes be tough to remember or easy to ignore.

When it comes to building great client relationships, excelling at customer service is the best place to start.

At PTI, we value our client relationships, and we want to work with you to accomplish the most successful custom packaging projects possible. Contact us today by calling 1-800-303-5883 or visit us online at www.ptibox.com.

Excellent Customer Service on the End of the Line

It is no secret that bad customer service has a direct impact on your bottom line. If you can’t offer the level of dedication to your clients that they expect, or are inconsistent in the delivery of this, people quickly take notice and may just determine that what you offer may be better obtained from a company whose service levels mirror the quality of their product.

When it comes to customer service, automated reception seems to be a big pain point. Calling a company and having to go through automated response after automated response, pushing #1 repeatedly rather than having an actual person answer the phone, can quickly cause customers to become frustrated, and more often than not results in irritation by the time they reach a voice at the other end the line. By this point, not only does that employee need to deal with the issue at hand, they are already behind the line because of the customer’s annoyance as a result of the time it took to get to them.

On the other hand, when a customer calls in and is able to actually talk to someone with very little automated go-between, the relationship between client and company is inevitably strengthened. The ability to explain a problem, or to receive real problem-solving advice easily has a very positive impact on overall satisfaction. It also saves time because no one is stuck dealing with the escalated resentment that results with the previous scenario!

Sure, it is easy to understand why automated phone systems are so popular with so many companies, and it has become all too easy to write off those customer service complaints in exchange for the cost-savings typically caused by the switch to automation. However, in most cases this is also a case of short-term gain for long-term pain; it is never a good idea to agitate your customers, and if there isn’t a pulse at the end of the line, those short-term profits can actually mean a drop in overall customer satisfaction and an increase in your competitor’s customer base.

In the end, if a customer is calling in to speak with a representative of your company, they don’t want to speak to a machine – they want to speak with a representative of your company. Unless you offer the most basic service in the world, a machine is not likely to have the answer your customer is looking for, and as a result they may just go where they can speak to a human being rather than a recording.

At Packaging Technologies Inc. we take customer service seriously. We are committed to providing the highest level of customer satisfaction, and when you need to speak to us, we are here to speak to you! Contact us today at 1-800-303-5883.