Powers activate! The making of a customer service superhero
What makes a customer service superhero? Help your customer service agents activate these superpowers and see customer satisfaction soar.
An answer to the question, “What is customer aftercare?” could very well be the act of earning customer trust. There are things that you say and things that you do. Customer aftercare is something that belongs in both categories. Unfortunately, aftercare often falls to the wayside.
For all the innovations and luxuries that have sprung from technology, we’re still human beings at the end of the day. We crave recognition, belonging, and significance.
Whether we are ordering coffee or signing up for online classes, we want our involvement and even our presence to be noted.
“Have a nice day.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“Thanks for visiting.”
These small details are the precursor to aftercare. Are you actively engaged in customer service? Actually, let’s ask it differently. Do you appreciate it when a waiter asks if you enjoyed your meal? How about when a realtor sends a postcard to your new digs? Does it make you feel considered?
These gestures of acknowledgment are the difference between a missed opportunity and a relationship.
Let’s explore how technology and your instinct can improve the customer experience.
What is customer aftercare?
The definition of customer aftercare is multi-faceted, and includes all of the steps, actions, communications, and processes that take place after the sale to assure your customers remain satisfied and engaged.
Customer aftercare refers to post-sale customer service. Today, achieving a sale often requires having great online reviews. If you sell a product that doesn’t meet expectations, people will let others know – and if you aren’t considering how critical that element is to business growth, you’re behind the eight ball.
In the digital era, there are no products, goods, or services that can be considered as a one-time-only sale.
Online customer reviews: 4 things marketers need to know
Online customer reviews offer powerful benefits for marketers, but there are some common mistakes that can sour customers from a brand.
Don’t let aftercare be an afterthought
If you were to ask five people to create a diagram of a sales cycle, you’d get five different sketches, though there would likely be recurring themes:
- Something about having a product or a service to sell.
- Something about having a storefront or a website.
- A salesperson might be suggested.
- A clerk to run the transaction.
- A bag to carry the product or a contract to establish the service.
- Certain items included would probably depend on the backgrounds of the people involved.
- Marketing before the sale.
- Reviews or word of mouth to influence the sale.
- A simple return and exchange policy.
It’s unlikely that they’d include aftercare or mention customer trust if we only asked for a diagram of the sales cycle.
If we said, “Describe the perfect sales transaction and the customer-to-brand relationship using your personal experiences for reference,” then personal experience dictates more elements be added. As a result, things like ease, comfort, trust, and value are listed.
These additional notes are technically not part of the product, which demands that we see the sale more holistically.
Examples of customer aftercare in action
There are several key things you can do to boost customer aftercare. The best examples include:
- Humanizing the connection
- Confirming that the goal is resolution
- Acknowledging an issue as soon as you become aware of it
- Making the customer experience to attain resolution easy
Look at a few memorable customer aftercare examples:
- Recognizing a connection.
Fun interaction w/ Philippines-based customer service rep. He finds out I’m Filipino, we switch languages to Tagalog, and he’s like “wow I couldn’t tell by your English you lost your Filipino accent” and I’m like “I’ve been here for so many years” LOL
— Ouij (@ouij) April 12, 2021
- Establishing an awareness that the goal is resolution.
Why are people so cruel to customer service/support? It’s as if you don’t want us to help you. Don’t you understand that we have the power to make things right? We can give you your money back, give you a discount, & so much more. Please make it make sense. #BeKind
— d e n i s e 🌻 j o y c e | readings OPEN 🔮✨ (@xodenisejoyce) April 12, 2021
- Staying in front of an issue.
Holo there! A note about Glossy Taco 💦🌮 pic.twitter.com/q0eEKMK0EF
— Holo Taco 💿🌮 (@holotaco) April 9, 2021
- Making things easier.
I love my little @Ergotron "WorkFit-C" sit/stand desk. I tweeted at them cuz I didn't pay enough attention and threw away the wrench that came with it, and they UPS'd me a couple new ones for free! I also ❤️ great customer service! https://t.co/n6lHAH8We6 https://t.co/sUX23KYkD1 pic.twitter.com/bgrLO3mR4S
— Chris Hubick (@hubick) April 12, 2021
When taken from the buyer’s perspective, the timeline of the sale starts well before any money changes hands and endures long after the ink on the receipt is dry.
Customer aftercare is something you should be thinking about before you ever make a sale – because the minute it’s done, you’re already behind the game if you haven’t established a plan. That said, you’re not too late, since you’re reading this.
How to deliver customer aftercare: Understand your customer
Combining intuition for engagement with technology is the secret to life-long retention. By unifying customer profiles and mobilizing data to create strategies for building loyalty, you can launch your brand into a consistent cycle of success.
Today’s customer expects a certain degree of familiarity with a brand. As a result, they have expectations that you’ll understand their needs, desires, price points, and preferences.
People have varying levels of comfort with engagement, with one exception – if a customer categorically knows you don’t care how they’re doing after a sale, you’ll likely be hearing about it across your social media channels – and so will the rest of the world. (We kid, but only a little.)
Social media and customer service: Aligning for great CX
Customers demand seamless experiences across channels, so social media and customer service teams must collaborate to boost the customer experience.
Customer data platforms are one of those types of technology that merge insight, customization, and action. Ratul Shah breaks it down easily, “A customer data platform is software designed to make sense of your customer data so you can engage with them on a more personal, effective (and valuable) level.”
With data breaches everywhere, customer data management becomes crucial
Customer data management best practices allow businesses to fortify their commitment to positive relationships. The potential for growth, in commerce and trust, is massive.
Start building toward customer aftercare today
Do yourself, your company, and your customers the favor of wrapping customer aftercare into your plan. The sequencing of how you communicate with people should include a diagram that factors in the full purchase experience. And the more you weigh customer satisfaction, the greater your ability to establish, maintain and deserve customer trust.
Anyone can have a bad day. It’s how you respond to it, learn from it, and actually grow from it that determines your future success.
