How do you end a conversation with a customer?

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It’s a lesson all live chat support agents need to learn–how you end a chat truly matters.     1. Make Sure All Their Needs Are Met. …
      Before you end a chat, always throw in an extra offer like “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” for good measure
    2. Last Moments Matter. Last moments can colour a whole memory. 
Now imagine exercising your excellent customer service skills on a chat, only to have a customer feel it was awful because of your closing statements in the last few minutes. Can you imagine how terrible that would be? Don’t let that be the case–deliver quality customer service up until the very last closing spiel
3.Avoid Being Abrupt. …

The first rule is more about what NOT to do, but it’s the important first step. Never blurt out a curt “goodbye”. Even if you mean it with the best intentions, it’s hard to convey tone over the Internet. It can come off as rude and like you trying to get the customer out of your hair so you can move onto the next problem on your list. When you end a chat like that, you make customers feel like just that–a problem.Give your customer the same attention you gave her when she first came to you. She is just as important now as she was then. Think about it, you don’t want a customer to think she is less valuable to you after she makes a purchase–because the reality is, she is now more valuable. Positivity goes a long way in turning site visitors and one-time patrons into loyal customers.4. Thank the Customer. …
Thanking a customer for their business is thanking her for the relationship she chose to have with you. Thanking your customer is absolutely crucial to ending your live chat session. This let the customer know that the interaction is more than just about the money.  

5. Give a Goodbye That Means “Talk to You Soon” 

When you are getting ready to end your chat, remember that this is hopefully not the last time this customer will be using your company or buying your product. Avoiding negativity is a huge part of it, but that’s not enough. Remind the customer that you are there for her, and invite her to speak to you again in the future.Try lines like: we appreciate you for choosing us and hope to hear from you soon!

Social media customer service: Things you need to know

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Social media customer service is exactly what it sounds like. You use social media tools to provide online customer service and support.

In today’s digital world, people use social media channels to connect with businesses. And they expect businesses to be available on social media to provide help when they need it.

You likely already have a solid strategy for social media marketing and a great customer service team. But do you have a strategy for how your brand will use social media customer service solutions?

Using social media for customer support is different from using the same tools for social marketing. Social media customer service can help improve relationships and protect your brand’s reputation.

1. Make social customer service a priority

You have to view social media customer service as a business priority, not an afterthought. At Bumble, customer service is the “backbone of the entire business.”

2. Set up a dedicated social handle for customer service and support

Brands often use a separate handle to manage social customer support. This helps filter out support and service issues from your primary channel.

3. Create social media guidelines

Social customer support has different challenges and opportunities than social marketing. It is important to have social media guidelines in place for customer support. These should align with your company values and with the social media marketing team.

Your social media guidelines for social customer support should cover some of the following:

 1)Tone of voice

2)Response time for each channel

3)Answer to frequently asked questions

4) Protocol on escalations or other customer issues


Bill of rights: Does a patient have the right to refuse medical treatment?

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You have the right to refuse medical treatment. But there are three exceptions to the right to refuse treatment. They occur when others are subsidising the patient’s income during his or her period of injury, sickness and inability to work.

Here are the three main exceptions to the right to refuse:

Workers’ Compensation

If you have been hurt or become sick as a result of your work or your work environment, and you are receiving income through workers’ compensation, then you may not have the right to refuse treatment. While specific laws addressing this issue vary from state to state, the idea is that an employee cannot legally continue to benefit financially by refusing treatment.

There will be gray areas, of course. There may be times a patient wants to refuse treatment for a medical problem unrelated to the injury or sickness that keeps him or her out of work. Refusing to get a flu shot is not the same as refusing a surgery that will repair someone’s body. Drug dependencies, whether or not they are the result of whatever treatment the employee is receiving, may affect that employee’s right to refuse treatment.

Employees may not have the right to refuse to go through a detox program, for example, depending on the results of those drug tests. This varies by state law. If you are receiving workers’ compensation and wish to refuse any sort of treatment, be sure you take the right steps and notify the right people in order to make that treatment refusal decision.

Social Security Disability (SSD)

Similar to workers’ compensation, people who receive social security disability may also find that they cannot legally refuse medical treatment. When taxpayers are providing you with income because you are sick or hurt, and if that illness or injury can be improved or repaired well enough so you can once again support yourself, you will not be allowed to refuse treatment. If you do, you will yield your right to receive that SSD support.As in workers’ comp, there are gray areas to this rule. SSD recipients are expected to pursue all “reasonable” forms of treatment. Of course, “reasonable” is left up to interpretation and treatment outcomes are never certain. If you are receiving SSD payments and wish to refuse any sort of treatment, be sure you take the right steps to make that treatment refusal decision. 

Private Disability

You may have chosen private disability insurance through your employer or individually through a company like Aflac or MassMutual. If your injury or sickness is unrelated to your employment but is affecting your ability to work or support yourself, that’s when your disability insurance will subsidize your income during your convalescence. Your ability to refuse treatment will vary by insurer.

In general, the rules for refusal will be similar to those for Social Security disability and workers’ compensation. The disability insurer won’t be willing to let you choose not to be treated if that refusal means they will have to pay you more money over a longer period of time. If you refuse treatment, you may forfeit those payments.If you are receiving any sort of disability payment and wish to refuse any sort of treatment, be sure you take the right steps to make that treatment refusal decision.

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Don’t neglect your customers complain

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When a customer presents you with a complaint, keep in mind that the issue is not personal; he or she is not attacking you directly but rather the situation at hand.

Think about the times when your customers have complained about an inconvenience. There is a great opportunity for improvement if you have ever responded.

If you know that something is annoying your customers, change it.

  • The climate of a business needs to be set with the comfort of the customers in mind. If multiple customers complain about being too hot or cold, adjust the settings.
  • Banking customers need pens. When they are chained to the counter, it sends a message to customers that they cannot be trusted. These are the same customers who are trusting the bank with their money! What is the point of providing pens if they are out of ink?
  • Why not provide a tray of pens imprinted with the company name, website, and phone number? That way, if customers do take one along, it will provide them with easy access to important information about the bank.

Fix the root cause of the problem.

Customer complaints are process improvement alerts. If several customers complain, it creates a great opportunity for your team to improve on methods for delivering exceptional service. When a business hears the same complaint from more than one customer, it’s time to identify and fix the root cause of the problem.

Otherwise, they will eventually go away. Customers are too valuable to ignore their feedback. There is no point in listening to your customers’ complaints if nothing is going to be done to correct the issue. Dealing with the same complaints, again and again, creates frustration and employee apathy. It is also a considerable waste of employee time that could be better-spent building positive relationships with customers.

So in summary, the next time you receive a customer complaint, follow these tips to help transform it into a golden opportunity for your business.

  1. Listen and understand. Always listen to your customers. …
  2. Don’t be afraid to apologize for a mistake. …
  3. Find a solution. …
  4. Follow up with the customer. …
  5. Exceed Expectations.

To grab your customers attention, surprise them

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Ways to grab your customer’s attention  in a distracted world

Who doesn’t like a surprise? The best way to form an instant connection with your customers is to surprise them. Creating a sense of delight among your customers can help them in staying connected with you for a longer span of time

Target the right audience

If you choose the right audience, it ensures that your brand has a higher probability of success. You need to begin with narrowing down your potential audience. This can be done by analysing current customers and studying demographic trends.

Thereafter, you could study the market and figure out the kind of people that would use your product or service. Once you have done this, you could look at the marketing activities of your competitors in order to identify gaps in the market. Finally, after identifying the gaps, you need to create a compelling brand copy that can grab the attention of your customers and hold it.

By choosing the right audience, you are ensuring that your campaigns are reaching customers that are already interested in the product. You just have to form a connection with them. They are also more likely to share your campaigns with others, giving you free publicity.

Keep it simple

Any campaign that you design needs to be simple. This is because complexity can often prove to be a turn off for your customers. You do not want that to happen, especially in today’s world.

Nowadays, people are exposed to brands all the time. Be it in the online world, or in the real world; brands have become omnipresent. This means that there is a lot of competition that needs to be dealt with. Often, simplistic brand campaigns can work like a charm.

People do not have the time to go through elaborate product descriptions and features. Instead, they tend to look for something that is much more simplistic and yet serves the purpose. By keeping things simple, a brand can ensure that it can appeal to the masses and grab their attention for longer periods of time.

Simplistic campaigns also help your customers in making a quick decision. This can prove to be a game-changer in today’s competitive environment. Once the customer begins to feel that they have seen what they want, they are ready to make a decision. This helps your brand in quickly realizing sales and building your customer base rapidly.

Feuding Employees: How to mediate conflict between employees

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 How you can tactfully turn conflict into consensus between feuding employees

Image result for dealing with employee conflict
How to mediate conflict between employees – Customer service mediator

It’s natural to try to avoid conflict, but as a manager, you’re going to eventually have to deal with a conflict between employees. It is inevitable that there will be some amount of conflict on a team with a variety of industry experts and leaders. Some amount of conflict can be healthy, as long as it is discussed and a conclusion is reached. Clashing personalities or opposing viewpoints can actually bring new thoughts and discussions on aspects of a project that had not been imagined before.

Use the following methods to create harmony in your team and your project.

  1. Be Aware That Conflict Occurs. …
  2. Set the Ground Rules. …
  3. Learn About Destructive Conflicts. …
  4. Stop Conflict When it Happens. …
  5. Get the Whole Story. …
  6. Meet for Resolutions. …
  7. Discuss Both Sides of a Perspective. …
  8. Make Compromise a Goal.

The type of conflict you have to worry about more is unspoken resentment that can erupt in an outburst, or even more deadly, in quiet mutiny or deviation from agreed upon roles, tasks and goals.

So first be aware that conflict occurs

Knowing that conflict may and will occur is the first step to resolving it, especially if you know that certain team members may disagree with each other. By recognizing that there will be conflict, a project manager knows what to expect.

Secondly, set the ground rules

At the beginning of your project set some ground rules in your first meeting. Be sure to address what process will be taken to address conflicts, as they are bound to rise and will need to be taken care of before they spiral out of control. Tell team members that everyone’s ideas are valid and that they shouldn’t be dismissed, even if you do not agree with them.

Then learn about destructive conflicts

Conflict becomes destructive when no resolution is in sight or the issue cannot be resolved. A psychological model for explaining destructive patterns is the persecutor-victim-rescuer triangle. The persecutor would be the bad-guy or bully in this scenerio, but the rescuer is also placing him or herself in a position of superiority over the supposed victim. Stop yourself if you see yourself slipping into any of these roles and also try to recognize it in your team.

How you can tactfully turn conflict into consensus between feuding employees
It is inevitable that there will be some amount of conflict on a team with a variety of industry experts and leaders. Some amount of conflict can be healthy, as long as it is discussed and a conclusion is reached. Clashing personalities or opposing viewpoints can actually bring new thoughts and discussions on aspects of a project that had not been imagined before.Use the following methods to create harmony in your team and your project.

  1. Be Aware That Conflict Occurs. …
  2. Set the Ground Rules. …
  3. Learn About Destructive Conflicts. …
  4. Stop Conflict When it Happens. …
  5. Get the Whole Story. …
  6. Meet for Resolutions. …
  7. Discuss Both Sides of a Perspective. …
  8. Make Compromise a Goal.

The type of conflict you have to worry about more is unspoken resentment that can erupt in an outburst, or even more deadly, in quiet mutiny or deviation from agreed upon roles, tasks and goals.

Painless way to Free Yourself of Problem Clients

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Letting go of your first “problem client” can be an emotionally charged experience, but honestly it’s one of the most important milestones in your businesses.

It’s important because with each problem client, you’re able to get clearer view on what your “deal breakers” are and which customers are your ideal customers. So while you’ll never be able to filter out every “problem client” regardless of how good your client intake process is or how fine tuned your contact form is, letting them go does get easier with experience.

Here are things you should remember when ending the relationship.

  • Politely explain the situation
  • Focus on their interests
  • Be professional, you never know where people will be 5, 10, or 15 years in the future.
  • Set expectations of what next to expect.

Why You Should Be Radically Transparent With Your Customers

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Always set yourself up for success with your customers

Being more open about your products, prices and results will set you up for success. For example when you say, ‘we list our fees on our website and level with potential clients about what they can realistically expect from us’. It makes them feel relaxed and willing to do business with you. 

When it becomes clear that a potential client is hoping, then you will deliver incredible results in an exceedingly short time-frame, be frank with them about how achieving their desired results could require more time. Contrary to what you might think, this level of honesty isn’t killing your sales. Potential clients respond well to straightforward talk about what you can and can’t do for them. Since you don’t over-promise, you are less likely to under deliver. 

In an effort to stay under the radar, sometimes it’s easier for employees to keep concerns to themselves. Given how uncomfortable some companies are with transparency on the inside, it’s not hard to imagine how afraid they’d be of being transparent with their customers.

But as scary as the idea of transparency might seem, in the long run, it’s good not only for your customers but also for your business. In addition to attracting new customers, transparency allows you to better serve your current ones, ensuring they stick with you.

Easy way to tell customers they aren’t right – without saying, ‘You’re wrong’

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Image result for wrong customer

Let’s face it: Nobody likes to be wrong. But sometimes clients aren’t as receptive to the bad news as we may hope. When it comes to opinionated clients, at times, they have an idea of what they want, but we, as the agency, have the market knowledge and experience to know that these expectations may be unrealistic.

 Be Diplomatic and Communicate Effectively

Diplomacy is crucial when it comes to communicating with your clients. Your clients are entitled to their opinion and (many) suggestions, which is why you can’t tell them that they are flat out wrong. To avoid belittling them, make sure to provide reasons why they are right, first.

Give honest and Constructive Feedback

Nobody wins with dishonest feedback. Always remember to give the valuable feedback that you would like to receive. A survey revealed that 92% of professionals agreed that negative feedback can improve performance if presented appropriately. And when applied to client relations, by letting them know what isn’t working, your team can follow that up by providing a solution that will provide results that better fit with what your clients originally had in mind.

In summary: 

  1. Stick to the facts. Avoid pointing to what’s been said, and focus on what’s been done and is documented. …
  2. Bring up “miscommunication.” When using the word “miscommunication,” you don’t point blame. …
  3. Change his perspective. …
  4. Offer alternatives.

Measuring Customer Satisfaction Without Surveys

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Measuring customer satisfaction doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

In fact, it’s fairly simple to incorporate customer satisfaction measurement into your current customer success strategy. Besides the use of surveys, brands can measure customer satisfaction by monitoring and analyzing other metrics such as social media sentiment (to see what customers are saying about the brand), frequency of complaints or enquiries, level response to loyalty promos (coupons or seasonal sales) and frequency of repeat purchases by the customers. 

Have you ever been upset about an interaction you’ve had with a company? It probably happens with more frequency than many of us would like to admit, and it could be in your personal life or with your business. What did you do about it?

Many people, of course, just chalk it up to how things are and don’t think much about it. There are others, however, who want to flex their level of displeasure and want to let others know that what happened isn’t right — and that it wasn’t fixed, either.Thanks to social media and the internet, you can now share what you feel and hopefully persuade others to avoid that same situation.

But therein lies the problem and the peril with social media. If you don’t manage your customer service interactions or you have a call centre that’s less than dedicated to doing a good job, your brand could very easily find itself with a negative situation that goes viral.

Many call centres haven’t really figured out how to adequately measure all the different forms of customer feedback and their level of satisfaction. They’re relying on old-school methods and measurements. But then all of a sudden, one person’s experience that went poorly becomes an experience that everyone is keen to avoid. It goes viral.This makes it important to understand how your customer service department is doing and how you can improve it. You must measure various pieces of the customer satisfaction puzzle. The specific solution isn’t necessarily the important part here.

The important part is stepping back and saying, “If we see that a segment of our customers is unsatisfied, what will we do about it?” Feel free to share and drop your comments on the comment segment below.