As a business, you’re constantly looking for different ways to both turn leads into sales and retain those buyers as loyal customers.
In a corporate world that feels like it’s changing every single day, you may feel as if you’re in over your head. How can you build customer loyalty with all of the changes?
However, it might be a mistake you’re making that’s making your clients run for the hills. If your customer communication skills are lacking, you’re costing yourself thousands of dollars in revenue.
Here are several communication mistakes you might be making with your customers and how to fix them.
- Not Making a Good First Impression
As previously mentioned, you’ve put in so much hard work to turn the leads you’ve gathered into sales.
However, one mistake that most companies make is not making a good impression on the customer’s first purchase. Ideally, you want to create a customer service experience that will leave them begging for more.
More importantly, these “first impressions” happen when the customer initially reaches out to you to inquire.
The companies that have a streamlined customer service process will create an impression that will form a relationship. The client will build loyalty towards that brand.
So, how do you improve upon that? Use these customer communication trends as your starting point.
- Not Having Enough Patience
As with any form of business, there will be times when customers reach out in frustration, confusion, or impatience with your process.
It could be anything from being confused by your website layout to being frustrated they haven’t received their package. It’s important that you teach your employees to stay calm, keep an open ear, and help out however they can.
Many employees take the customer’s frustration as a sign that they automatically want nothing to do with the company. That’s not the case at all!
In fact, if you work through the problem and reach a solution with them, they’ll be all the more grateful to your brand for it.
- Using Too Many Scripts
Plain and simple: today’s customers in the marketplace only want to work with companies who are relatable and genuine.
While sales and customer service scripts certainly have their place in your business, they shouldn’t be used for every line. If everything you say sounds like you’re reading it off a piece of paper, your customer may as well be talking to an automated system.
There’s a reason they called you to talk: they want a human on the other side of the phone. Use that to your advantage.
Rather than reading word for word off of the scripts, use them as a guideline when you aren’t sure where to take the conversation.
It’s important to remember that the client mainly wants you to have an open ear. Listen to what they say, look at your cheat sheet for the proper response, then add a bit of your personal touch to the response.
- Not Knowing Proper Information
Whether it’s fair or not, the client that’s speaking with you or another employee expects you to be the expert of your company.
That means knowing all critical pieces of information to be able to give a guaranteed answer to their questions.
One mistake that many employes make is making definitive statements when they don’t know the answer. That means they could be completely wrong and thus be leading your clients astray.
It’s you and the management’s job to educate the entire staff and make sure they all know the ins and outs of your company and it’s products or services.
However, make sure your employees also know that it’s not the end of the world if there’s a detail that stumps them. Tell them it’s better to respond with “I don’t know, but let me find out for you,” than giving them the wrong answer.
- Keeping the Client Waiting Too Long
It doesn’t matter how you’re conversing with the client (email, phone, texting, etc.) if you leave them waiting too long, it turns the relationship sour.
Perhaps no communication mistake can turn to client frustration quicker than making them wait for their answer. If you take too long, they’ll go to your competitors for the answer instead.
There are two best practices to limit client wait times. First, get an automated system integrated into your business phone system. Second, you can install a live chat on your website so they can talk with your employees and have an answer within seconds.
- Using Industry Jargon
As previously mentioned, one of the worst things that you can do to your prospects or clients is confusing them. That confusion will lead to frustration with your brand.
Many people make the mistake of using too much industry jargon that the clients don’t understand.
They think that, by using the industry terms, they’re impressing the client with their knowledge. However, it’s actually turning them off, since you aren’t properly communicating an answer to them.
You owe it to the customers to help them understand. You’re the expert, put it into terms they can comprehend and build a relationship with the client from there.
Improve Your Customer Communication Tactics!
Now that you’ve seen the different errors you’re making with customer communication, it’s time to make some improvements.
By simply stressing the importance of better communication, you will see improvements that weren’t there previously.
Be sure to read our other articles that pertain to both this topic, as well as other topics that are just like it.