Customer satisfaction have a huge impact on your business. A low satisfaction level means your customer retention and loyalty levels will likely be low too. Whereas, excellent customer service creates loyal customers for life who are willing to refer your business to friends, family, and colleagues. 

Your customers are and will be the biggest part of your success story. You could create the best looking website with amazing products and market better than anyone else. But without your customers pulling out their credit card to make a purchase on your store, you’d be nothing.

Hence we have compelled some of the customer service tips to delight your shoppers and boost your loyalty.

What is customer service?

Customer service is the support you offer your customers — both before and after they buy and use your products or services. Customer support is more than just providing answers; it’s an important part of the promise your brand makes to its customers.

In simple words; Customer service is the direct one-on-one interaction between a consumer making a purchase and a representative of the company 

By offering great customer service, you help ensure that customers enjoy shopping from your online business. This can help increase customer loyalty, increase repeat shoppers, boost the number of positive reviews on your store and spread a word of mouth promotion about your brand.

Great customer service ideas to delight shoppers

Let’s dive into some of the amazing customer service ideas to turn visitors into loyal customers.

1. Invite loyal customers to a VIP sale

Calling your previous customers VIP makes them feel special. Once a customer made purchase from your store add them to you VIP list, Host events for your customer and invite them to sales will make them happy and feel special.

You could host an exclusive sale that gets marketed to your VIP email list only instead of publicly on your social media. Also, you can create unique discount codes reserved for VIP customers only.

2. Give customers first access to certain products

Launching new collection or any new product? Create a private link that doesn’t appear in your navigation a few days before making it public for everyone else. You can mention that the link is exclusive to your VIP customers and that no one else can see it.

By this you will give access of your new collection to the customers, as your following grows in popularity, your customers will create a viral effect for these secret collections.

Moreover, you can also hide your secret collections on 404 pages or in a hidden part of your website ultimately surprising customers who stumble upon it by accident.

3. Video email responses

If you want to personalize your customer service a bit, you can create personalized video response emails.

In these emails, you can address your customers by name, introduce that you’re an employee at the company and respond to their exact question. It can take a bit more work and time but it adds a more personal element to customer inquiries that top retailers couldn’t do if they tried.

Plus, if customers need step by step instructions for a specific part showing a screencast video so they can clearly see the exact steps they need to follow.

4. Sending holiday or birthday cards

This is the best time to treat customers amazingly. You can use a customer service app like Happy Birthday Email which collects your customer’s birthdays and sends an automated email out on their special day. Also, you can offer a small free gift with each purchase through their birthday link using an app like Ultimate Special Offers. You can also send special discount cards for holiday.

5. Make customer service fun and playful

Most online retailers respond to comments the exact same way. “Sorry about the inconvenience, please send us a direct message (DM) so we can resolve your issue.” This doesn’t work because it’s a canned response but also you’re forced into a second step of communication to resolve an issue.

Customers want resolutions quick and easy. Rather than asking them to contact you, you should be taking the initiative to DM them for further details to respond. Few brands do this but it’s that added little touch that could go a long way!

6. Fix issues with the most complains of your customers

You might be aware of everyday complains but did you take any action for those complain?

If customers are constantly emailing asking about shipping times, you should include shipping times or a tracking code immediately after purchase. Maybe your customers keep complaining about the quality of the same product, find a different supplier with better reviews.

Do customers complain about your response time? Work on it hire someone who can handle your chats, emails and calls. If you want to run a successful business you need to be super responsive.

7. Repost customer pictures on your social media accounts

If a customer is wearing your product or posting a picture with it, like their post and share it on your social accounts and tag them in the post. Also, praise them because they deserve it. Not only did they like your store enough to buy from it but they took it to the next level by engaging with you post-purchase.

8. Teach customers something new

You can teach your customers something new in a few different ways. For instance; you can create video content on YouTube showing the exact steps in a visual way. Secondly, you can create blog content that educates customers in an engaging way.

By teaching your customers a new skill, you end up offering great customer service because your service isn’t only tied to a direct sale.

9. Automate your customer service with a loyalty program

This is one of the easiest way to provide great customer services. You can use loyalty apps, install them on your store as a marketing automation tool. Customers who sign up for your program can earn points to receive discounts and free gifts from your store.

Earning points can be addictive for your customers while giving them the incentives that keep them excited to shop on your store regularly.

10. Feature customers on your blog

Feature relevant customer success stories on your blog can give your customers a spotlight which helps make them feel special. However, some customers might not be motivated in being featured on your blog. They need to feel like there’s something in it for them? Enter cash prize.

You can offer $50 cash bonuses to customers who share a really compelling story that relates to your niche. You only pay the bonus if it’s featured on your blog. This allows you to be picky about the quality of the type of content people share.

11. Send gift cards to them on customer appreciation day

Appreciating our regular customers is a great idea of customer services. You can offer gift cards to customers to spend on your store. Be sure to know the pricing of all your products in your store.

You can also celebrate customer appreciation day by offering a free small gift like a bracelet which has a low cost under $3.

12. Showcase your great customer service with a thank you note

Your Thank you note matters a lot. With every purchase you ship out you can add a small handwritten note that leaves a great impact on people. Handwritten note improved both morale and productivity in our workplace.

You can immediately see a boost in engagement on social, sales saw an increase. Also, you can see more repeated customers. Personalized thank you cards make you stand out among the dozens of newsletters.

Conclusion

All of the elements above combine to produce great customer service. Treat customers well, show empathy and keep smiling. Recognize the value customers bring to your company every day. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to succeed. Hence consistently going above and beyond for your customers can make your brand more special.