{"id":9588,"date":"2021-08-27T01:01:12","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T06:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=9588"},"modified":"2026-01-20T11:55:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T16:55:22","slug":"5-strategies-to-help-improve-your-customer-service-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/5-strategies-to-help-improve-your-customer-service-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Strategies to Help Improve Your Customer Service Standards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-9589\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-photo-7681119-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-photo-7681119-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-photo-7681119-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pexels-photo-7681119-1024x683.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Happy customers are integral to any business. In fact, they\u2019re more important than informed purchasers. According to Harvard professor Gerald Xaltman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/logan-chierotti\/harvard-professor-says-95-of-purchasing-decisions-are-subconscious.html\">95% of our buying decisions<\/a> are made by our subconscious emotions, and most buyers will spend more for better customer service.\u00a0 A decent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.velvetech.com\/\">custom software company<\/a> can create a perfect app for your business, but a high customer satisfaction rate is not only about software.\u00a0 To improve your customer service standards, follow these 5 bulletproof strategies.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Encourage Customer Feedback<\/h2>\n<p>If you don\u2019t know what your customers want, you\u2019ll have a difficult time making them happy.<\/p>\n<p>Although receiving feedback can be intimidating, it\u2019s better to know what&#8217;s wrong than to take shots in the dark. To get an understanding of how each agent performs, set up a customer survey at the end of each call, chatbox, or email conversation along with an incentive. Your customers will love providing feedback if they receive a small gift for their troubles.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Use the Right Email Management Software<\/h2>\n<p>A whopping <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextiva.com\/blog\/customer-service-statistics.html\">57% of customers prefer email<\/a> over other digital service channels, making it the most preferred way to speak with your agents. At the same time, your buyers have higher expectations for customer service today than they did even a year ago, so you must keep turnaround times low even when you\u2019re handling a large volume of emails.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.helpspot.com\/customer-service-email-management-software\">Email management software<\/a> can help improve your customer service standards greatly because it allows for accountability, better inbox management, and automated solutions. To further boost efficiency and reduce response times, companies should <a href=\"https:\/\/surveysparrow.com\/blog\/ticketing-software\">automate support tickets<\/a> so that routine inquiries are routed and triaged instantly without manual overhead. Plus, you can hand out customer satisfaction surveys with greater ease!<\/p>\n<h2>3. Hire or Train the Right Customer Service Professionals<\/h2>\n<p>The best customer service agents are appropriately trained and have a personality suited for the role. Your workforce must include people who have the following qualities and skills:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Patience:<\/b> Your customers may have difficulty explaining why they\u2019re confused, angry, or annoyed with a product or service. A great agent can ask the right questions and get to the bottom of why there\u2019s a problem without getting angry themselves.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Communication Skills:<\/b> All customer service agents should speak confidently, directly, and try their best to ensure every customer is satisfied before hanging up.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Empathy:<\/b> The people you hire need to be empathic with the customers\u2019 situation. That doesn\u2019t mean they have to endure abuse, but their communication skills need to accompany kind words, sincere thoughts, and an active go-getter mindset.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Product Knowledge:<\/b> While your agents don\u2019t have to know every solution to every problem, they do need to have complete knowledge of what you\u2019re selling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>4. Offer a Customer Loyalty Program<\/h2>\n<p>New customer relationships can be strengthened by offering a <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/marketplace\/customer-loyalty-699\">loyalty program<\/a>. Even something as simple as a percentage discount for cumulative spending can persuade customers to give you another try or spend more than they intended.<\/p>\n<p>Loyalty cards are a favorite for many establishments because your customer will instantly understand how many more purchases they need to make until they earn a free item.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Use Customer Care Incentives to Increase Sales<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s less expensive to keep your existing clients, so it\u2019s worth taking a few steps that keep them satisfied with the service they receive. Your customers already have a degree of trust in you, and they likely want to buy from you again. Just try not to come off as too salesy while using the following techniques, or your relationship with them could turn sour.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Answering FAQs on your social media or website<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Offering a complimentary customer service hotline<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Providing free products or services that extend the shelflife of their purchases<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Offering discounts, coupons, or incentives to loyal customers<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Calling customers after they make a purchase to ensure they\u2019re happy<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Satisfied customers will contribute to your business in the long term, so try and focus on how you can build a lasting relationship that doesn\u2019t focus on a quick profit. If you start to harass your customers, your review scores will suffer right along with their loyalty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy customers are integral to any business. In fact, they\u2019re more important than informed purchasers. According to Harvard professor Gerald Xaltman, 95% of our buying decisions are made by our subconscious emotions, and most buyers will spend more for better customer service.\u00a0 A decent custom software company can create a perfect app for your business,&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/5-strategies-to-help-improve-your-customer-service-standards\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">5 Strategies to Help Improve Your Customer Service Standards<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":9589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15466,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9588\/revisions\/15466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}