Customer Service Tips For a Successful 2013. Customer Service Tips For a Successful 2013 We're a month into the new year, which is the perfect time for some quick tips for providing excellent customer service. No matter what business or industry you're in - from freelancer to enterprise - there's always room to improve customer service strategies. Here are our tips for ensuring great service as the year progresses: Keep Your Word If you tell a client or prospect that you will send an email within 24 hours, send the email within 24 hours.
Don't Be a Robot No two people are alike and no two customer service situations are the same, either. Get Personal While you're busy not being a robot, take a minute to get to know your customer. Take Your Time to Get it Right If you rush to solve a customer's problem, it might not get solved correctly. Be Accessible Gone are the days when the only way a customer could reach your support team was via the telephone. 5 Healthcare IVR Best Practices. 5 Healthcare IVR Best Practices In Healthcare, IVR Systems are used to automate a wide variety of tasks: route calls to different departments, announce office or facility hours, allow patients to confirm appointments, and more. But in many cases, the functionality of an IVR system is limited by the way the prompts and announcements are written, read, and structured. So how do you ensure your IVR System sounds as good as it promises to work?
1. Some callers will try to "zero out" immediately when they hear an automated system at any kind. 2. When choosing the right voice for your phone system, it's important to consider your callers' point of view. 3. In both large facilities and smaller offices, patients call for many reasons. 4.
As you use your IVR system, pay attention to which options are chosen the most frequently. 5. To ensure patient satisfaction, ask for feedback about the caller's experience. IVR is a powerful tool that has near-endless applications in healthcare. The Myth of Zero Hold Time. The Myth of Zero Hold Time If you ask people what they're playing for callers waiting on hold, you'll hear (at least) one of a few answers: NothingThe RadioI don't know, my phone guy set it upWe don't have hold time.
The first three...well, they're a problem. If you have no idea what's playing on hold, are ignoring that fact that you actually have customers on the line, wondering if you've pressed "Hold" or simply hung up, or think it's legal to play the radio on hold, you should deal with this problem immediately. Your customers are probably very angry and annoyed. I would suggest asking them about it. And as for the fourth...well, it's probably just not true. Everyone Has Hold Time Many businesses and calls centers claim that they have "zero hold time", which means that they simply don't put customers on hold. Where does the myth come from?
The above situation is AWFUL. 4 Online Video Ideas to Improve Customer Service Strategies. 4 Online Video Ideas to Improve Customer Service Strategies If you have a business, you have customers. If you have customers, they have questions. No matter what you sell, do, or offer, someone will need to ask you something about it. And when the time comes, you and your staff will have to provide them with an appropriate answer. Quickly Answer a Question with Vine If your business is using the new app, Vine, as part of your social media strategy, consider using it to answer some basic questions on social media.
One caveat for your Vine videos - they are automatically muted when shared online, so your customers will have to know to turn the sound on. Create a How To Video Is there a process you find yourself explaining to your customers again and again? Make a "Behind The Scenes" Video that Explains Your Workflow Sometimes, customer confusion is caused by a lack of knowledge about what goes on at your business. Create a Product Tour Encourage Video Reviews or Testimonials. 4 Online Video Ideas to Improve Customer Service Strategies. IVR Script Examples to Improve Caller Navigation. IVR Script Examples to Improve Caller Navigation Your IVR system is like the front door of your business - It's the first thing people see and the first impression callers get.
It's also a crucial part of your customer communication. When coupled with well-written voice prompts, the IVR system helps callers navigate your phone system and reach an agent efficiently. 3 IVR Sample Scripts: Day Greeting: Thank you for calling [COMPANY NAME].If you know your party's extension number, you can enter it at any time. Main Menu: Hello and thank you for calling [COMPANY NAME]. Night Greeting: Thank you for calling [COMPANY NAME]. Why these IVR scripts are effective: Our script department created these IVR script examples to work effectively and efficiently to navigate and inform callers. Include a greeting with main choices.
If you want to improve call navigation and caller efficiency in your phone system, start at the very beginning - your IVR script - and find ways to innovate from there. How Restaurants and Catering Facilities Can Keep Messages On Hold Current. How Restaurants and Catering Facilities Can Keep Messages On Hold Current The most effective Message On Hold program is one that is kept up to date year-round. For restaurants and catering facilities, where seasonal happenings often affect events, menues, hours of operation, and space availability, playing timely information on hold is an easy way to keep your guests and clients in the know about your changing business.
View our slide presentation for ideas about updating your on hold marketing throughout the year: How are you keeping your on Message On Hold script up to date throughout the year? University: Audio for Marketing and Customer Service. 3 Tips to Use Social Media for Exceptional Customer Service. I immediately tweeted at the company's Twitter account relaying my vexation with its menu’s vague messaging. Despite my 140-character attempt to address the issue, I received no response. This is an example of poor, modern-day customer service. The birth of social media has given businesses of all kinds a unique opportunity to improve their relationship with consumers. Long gone are the days of hand-written complaints and private 1-800 phone calls. People flock to Facebook, Twitter, and the like to vocalize their complaints, read by countless online consumers. To help combat instances like mine and leverage your social media presence for exceptional customer service, here are 3 ways to turn your social media accounts into contemporary customer service stations. 1) Monitor Every Online Account The number one mistake many businesses make is setting up their social media accounts and treating them as one-way communication platforms. 2) Own Up to Your Mistakes 3) Chat It Up.
103 Ways to Use QR Codes to Drive Sales and More | Mark The Marketer. What does your “Voice” tell your customers about your organization? Hold Music Alone is Not Enough. Leaving your callers in silence is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, but leaving your callers listening to music can be equally as ineffective. Choosing the wrong hold music can have terrible consequences: frequent hang ups and irritated callers. Omitting on hold messages means you miss a major opportunity to market to, inform, and communicate with your callers. The wrong on hold music can make your customers crazy, so it's important to select music that appeals to your target customers. The key is remembering that the music you choose isn’t for you; it’s for your callers. As important as choosing the right music is delivering messages that engage your callers. Sometimes, people think “should I have Music on Hold or Message on Hold?”
Not sure what to add in your Message on Hold? Updating your Messages On Hold for Autumn (and after) Ummer officially ended on September 23, but people have started feeling especially autumnal since Labor Day. As the seasons change, it’s time to take inventory of your marketing materials and make sure your Message On Hold reflects the present and future of your business, not the past. Depending on your industry, your on hold marketing might include some of the following content: Hospitality properties often:Advertise Oktoberfest , Halloween, and other seasonal celebrationsRemind callers of space rental opportunities for partiesStart promoting Thanksgiving and other holiday offersInform callers of holiday room ratesMessages on Hold for Restaurants: Publicize seasonal menu changesPromote special, seasonal eventsHighlight private rooms for large partiesRetail stores:Feature upcoming salesAnnounce special holiday hours from Columbus Day through New Year’s Businesses in general can grow community outreach by promoting month-long observances.
Autumnal on hold marketing has two keys. 5 Ways Hospitality Properties Can Leverage Internet Audio. Voice Prompt Script Tips. Voice Prompt Script Tips UPDATE 01/21/2011: Check out this blog post & forum discussion for more information. With contributions from Senior Script Consultant, Rob Lefever Scripting a voice prompt for a client or voiceover talent is a challenging and delicate process– the writer has to navigate the English language like a game of minesweeper, watching out for ambiguous or alternate pronunciations. We’ve all had friendly lunch-break debates over “CAH-fee” or “CAW-fee”, “poh-TAY -toe” or “poh-TAH-toe,” but a simple mispronunciation on a message on hold can be disastrous. The following are a few script writing tips on how to organize an accurate voice prompt so your voiceover talent, and ultimately, your client, receives their “ad-ver-TISE-ment” and not their “ad-VER-tiz-ment”: However, finding the right pronunciation is only half the battle.
Here are some common “lookout” words: Hopefully these tips have helped facilitated the script-writing "PRAH-cess" (or PRO-cess). 11 Tips for Writing Your Own On Hold Marketing Program. Audio Marketing for Hospitality Free Download. Audio Marketing Script Tip: Write for the Ear. Audio Marketing Script Tip: Write for the Ear When writing scripts for Messages On Hold, IVR Announcements, or other audio marketing programs, you'll often be told that you should “write for the ear.” Writing a script is different than writing printed materials because scripts are meant to be heard and printed materials are intended to be read silently. How can you successfully tailor your writing to be read out loud? Follow these tips to ensure your scripts are successfully written: Give the right amount of information. Your audience will only hear your message once, in a short period of time.
Writing for the ear can help you to create audio messages that are clear, concise, and appealing to your audience. Are Online Reviews Killing Your Business? | Full size Infographic | 540SEO | Your Customers Are Shouting, Are You Listening? Customer service complaints are being pumped out live, and consistently while the these customers are hot and bothered. Twitter has enabled millions to broadcast their negative customer service experiences to all of their “followers” and maybe their followers' followers. No longer is there an opportunity to make it right and take back what was already posted on hundreds, possibly thousands of Twitter account holders' feeds. These comments are searchable, permanent, and powerful. Gone is the cool down period. However, did you ever think about how these comments can help your business? - @bestbuy horrible customer service via phone. should not take 2 hours to order something. - #onhold 45 minutes on the phone to find out where my package is, DHL needs to get it together, your customer service is horrible!!
- Absolutely horrible customer service experience with @Airtel_Presence call center. . - When I am 'on hold', it feels so wrong when a song ends and nobody picks up the line. 5 Tips for Using Audio in Hospital Branding. 5 Tips for Using Audio in Hospital Branding Steve Rivkin, founder of Rivkin & Associates, wrote an article entitled 5 tips for branding a Hospital in Becker’s Hospital Review. His tips focus on reaching an emerging hospital “consumer” interested in seeing transparency from healthcare facilities and identifying with a hospital “brand.” When branding a hospital or other healthcare facility, audio can be employed as a tool to present the facility’s image to patients, staff, and the public.
Below are Rivkin’s 5 tips, and how audio can help healthcare facilities follow through on these ideas: Think of your brand as a promise. Rivkin suggests thinking about a brand “in the same way as a person’s reputation.” People identify with brands on a personal level, so treating a branded healthcare facility as a person instead of a thing can help develop a brand that reaches the public effectively. Airline Hold Times During Hurricane Irene. Airline Hold Times During Hurricane Irene Airline customer service departments had phone lines ringing off the hook during the Hurricane Irene's blast up the east coast last week. If you were one of the unlucky travelers during this time, you probably spent a long time waiting on hold for an airline customer service representative! If you were trying to reach an airline via Twitter, you might have waited hours for a response, or had your tweet completely ignored all together.
What could have these airlines done to shorten hold time and provide customers with the best customer service under such unfortunate circumstances? STELLAService, a customer service firm, conducted a survey on airline hold times during Hurricane Irene, and the results are surprising. So what does this say about customer service when comparing these airlines? An effective customer service strategy that Delta used to bridge social media and the massive amount of phone calls was personalizing Twitter support.
13 Mind-Bending Social Media Marketing Statistics. Many of us know that social media marketing is an important part of a solid inbound marketing strategy. However, sometimes we need some backup when speaking with others who might still be struggling to understand how social media fits into the overall marketing mix. This post is for them -- and you. Even if you are a veteran inbound marketer, these stats will get the gears in your head turning about the still limitless possibilities that the internet provides. 1. 20 percent of searches on Google each day have NEVER been searched for before. (Source) Tweet This Stat! 3. 43 percent of all online consumers are social media fans or followers (Source) Tweet This Stat!
4. 53 percent of people on Twitter recommend companies or their products in their tweets. 5. 7. 56 percent of LinkedIn's 100 million users are outside of the United States. 8. 10. 200 million Facebook users access the service from a mobile device. 11. 12. 45 million people view SlideShare presentations each month. Multilingual Communication Aids Customer Service. Assessing Customer Satisfaction. How To Stand In Your Customer’s Shoes (Without A Focus Group) Customer Service, Consumer Reports. Have Some Chicken Soup While Waiting On Hold. Customer Service Lesson from Groupon. On Hold Experiment. The MOH Client Relations Trade Secret. Customer Service Message on Hold Tips. The Value Between Noise and On Hold. Walk in your Customer's Shoes (and Listen to their Auto Attendant)