Customer Service Hacks: Every Growing Startups to Note Down

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.” Mahatma Gandhi

We are certain that most Start-up Companies try to adhere to these great words every single time they serve the purpose of a customer. A start-up, just like any other professional entity, works hard 24 x 7 just to make sure that the customer goes home happy and satisfied.

The customer on the other hand also expects top-notch customer support from the company they select. They seek this aid just to convince themselves that this is the right company to trust and hold onto.

“68 % of total custom losses are due to customer service failures”: Source
For a Start-up too, retaining customers is one of the core priorities for future growth. Everyone knows being humanistic, clear-cut and accommodating in your approach will help you to win big brownie points with your customers. However, there are still some ‘trees you have to shake’ to make your customers fall in love with your new venture.

Therefore, today, I am going to focus on customer-support hacks that you can use to provide growth to your start-up venture.

1. Making customers your number one priority

As Mr. Gandhi said, customers give us a chance, not the other way around. We must respect the opportunity that we get and make customers our first priority. Yes, revenues, profits, growth and scalability are vital for survival too, but the customer is the main catalyst in all this.

A company, especially a start-up, should always be customer centric to make sure that their clients are happy and very satisfied. This can fuel growth and client retention too.

The most basics priorities that you can give your customers are:

• Dedicated and multiple channels so that customers can reach you without much delay
• Listening to customers’ feedback or problem in real and in human
• Offering them a quick solution and giving them attention
• Train your employees likewise to provide the best service possible
• Get all your team members to chat with your customers
• Hearing them out and identifying the expectations of your customers
• And, finally, empowering your employees to make decisions, so that they do not end up with a blunt “No”.

Remember a customer is the final, and the most important, puzzle-piece of your start-up jigsaw. Hence, make sure you try to treat with priority and urgency.

2. Using technology customer support

Using sophisticated tech and tools is one of the best hacks that you can opt for when you want your customer support structure to work like a charm. The world has become ubiquitous to technology and tools; hence, the same help with customer support.

Tools like social media integration, live chat, auto-call backs, mobile apps, and text support can become crucial for your customers. Customers love it when your start-up has a 360 degree and complete technology aided support system. 

For instance, a customer, whilst doing online shopping, may seek an advice on a particular spec or feature of your product. Tools like Tagove live chat can become your online sales executive and give the customer all the answer he or she needs.

Using technology is one of the best ways to combat the barrier of distance between a company and a customer.

3. Personalize the whole customer support system

Automation is a good thing, but too much automation is really a matter of concern. Customers do not like it when they call/email you and hear a computerized voice/reply greeting them. This process may be necessary when you grow and bulk up, but if you are in a growing start-up scenario, it is best to avoid it.

You must insist on keeping real people to chat with your customers. In fact, your customer support team should also keep information about your customer’s profile and the product/service he or she uses and greet the customer by the first name to enhance the whole experience. And this all can be done by integrating customer support with CRM software. 

Apart from the personalized calls, e-mails, and overall support, you can also try writing hand written or hand-signed notes for your customers. This would certainly classify as top notch personalized customer support and will make your users happy.

4. Don’t waste time

Time is of the essence for everyone. Yes, even for your customers. So, when you think about setting up a competent customer support team, make sure you train them not waste your customer’s time!

In some cases, it takes tonnes of time and effort to solve an issue, and sometimes the issues stay pending even after hours of deliberation. However, as a start-up, you have to be swift in mitigating issues, irrespective of how grave or easy they might be.

Things that you can do and practice:

• Encourage your whole team/all departments to participate in customer support for faster solutions.
• Give faster human help/support to the customers. Using tools like Lucy-Phones that can help eliminate the call-waiting concept.
• Understand the problem first and finding the underlying cause of the issue.
• Encouraging complaint-registering or feedback via the website or app.

5. Be polite, accommodating and professional

In today’s world, getting a good quality product or service is not the only thing that customers look for from a start-up. They seek an unforgettable experience and unmatched efficiency in all departments and traits of your business, especially in the field of customer support.

However, consumers, in most cases, also understand that there are some limitations to your support. Nevertheless, what they expect is that at least you explain everything professionally to them with a charming and convivial smile— and a thank you right at the end.

Call it old fashion, but that is the truth. Customers do not like rude people and they certainly do not want your customer-support executive to accommodate or refute you with a grim attitude.

Remember, the customer is already in a flux and that is why he or she is giving you a call. You can be a bit sensitive in your approach and a bit of politeness, professionalism, and touch of empathy will not hurt your brand’s image. These simple practices would accelerator your overall company growth eventually. 

Running a start-up and contributing to its growth is difficult; hence, it is vital that you must try to accommodate all the needs of your initial customers to create a strong client base. We believe following these hacks would certainly give you a smart head-start.