In these days, your customers aren’t easy to be fool around with beautiful words or uncertain promises.

They’re, on the contrary, experts in detecting if you and your company are truly dedicated in giving them the answer to their need or not. They’re people living in the digital eCommerce world just like you – with a smartphone on their hands, online anywhere, anytime, using all kind of eCommerce services which, by time, increases their expectation in a service more than ever before.

After drawing customers via a magnetic homepage, product showcase, or promotion, it’s customer support in a well-planned customer service strategy that will make them stay. I’m not talking about the mere nice words you use when supporting customers. I’m talking about the actions – how you can live up to your words and promises.

Find out the answer for the question above by checking out these 5 secret ingredients to deliver an exceptional customer support service that carves deep in your customer’s heart.

1.Consistency

Like keeping the fire to have just enough heat to cook your dish so it won’t be burnt, remember that remaining consistency in support is just as important.

For an eCommerce website, you can’t just provide one single customer support channel. There should be live chat, forum, ticket system, phone support, email and even support on social media pages. If your support agents fail to deliver the united message as well as mutual resources via these channels, then your customers will be even more confused after receiving any help.

When transferring customers through different support channels, your support agents must have the same voice, same manner, attitude and access the same support resources. All support team must be able to deliver the solution for customers with ease – make sure you get this checked on your list.

That’s not all. Your customers should get what you promise that they will have anytime they need, not when it’s convenient for your company. Prove that you mean it when you say your support is top-notch or state it on your website. People hate liars – I bet you do too, don’t you?

2. Listening with heart

Yes, compared with cooking again, a good cook should cook with his passion to deliver the best taste in the dish. So does a support team. One of the keys to customer’s heart is a wholehearted support where your support agents put their heart close to customer’s heart and be a true listener.

Trust me, nothing is more brand-attached than this.

This rule does not solely apply to live chat or phone support where your team directly interacts with customers but also other platforms as well. Encourage customers to explain the problem, find a way out for them and if it’s something needed to be improved from your company, do it. Listen to help resolve customer’s problems. Listen to their wishes to improve your service/product’s quality too.

So how can you actually listen to the voice of your customers?

You can apply pre-chat survey in live chat, or survey form sent via email, on your social channels, email, testimonial form on your site, rating and comment under product’s page and so on. Or, you can take it to a new level by creating contest for customers to contribute their ideas of things they want to see from your company. You’ll get many golden tips to bring your brand go further.

When there’s a will (to listen), there’s a way (to let your customers speak out their thoughts).

3. Showing respect

No one wants to stand there crying and watch customers blow them one last goodbye kiss.

Acting rude or disrespecting customers is the fastest way to drive your precious customer away. If you don’t know how to deal with an erupting-volcano customer or mend anegative customer situation, this article shall eliminate your fear. Above all, the mantra for keeping a good relationship with customers is to always take responsibility and remain patience for the unhappy experience of a customer.

Respecting your customers goes hand in hand with valuing them and putting them at the core of your business’s growth. A company won’t be successful without cherishing its customers. And you can just do many things to show how you appreciate the fact that customers choose to stay with you by, for example, building loyalty program for frequent buyers, removing any barriers in customer’s experience in purchasing on your site, delivering fast answers and on-time solutions for their question, etc.

Seriously, I can sit all day and list out all the things you could do to show your customer that you treasure them here. Wanna try by yourself? Go ahead.

4. Timing

The extra-plus point in online customer support service is that customers can request instant support from the team whenever they want. Of course, the responding time will be varied depending on the support platforms, but the longer you keep them wait, the higher possibility there is that they will leave your side.

For live chat, the ideal responding time for a chat request is less than 10 seconds. For email or ticket or forum support, the acceptable waiting time will be from several hours to maximum 24 hours. If you need more time than that, you should have some pre-words to explain the reason why for customers. Don’t let them wait in the dark!

With indirect support platforms like email, forum or ticket system, you should consider hiring support members who work remotely and can support customers globally in any time zone. If you’re not able to do that, then address the specific operating hours on your website clearly.

Be timing doesn’t only include providing a prompt response but also requires delivering the final solution quickly as well as effectively. Remember that you need to keep these two pieces of the cake perfectly.

5. Adding values

Your customers love to have an over-promised support service. Make them wow when using your product and make them even more in love by enjoying your support. Go ahead in digging deeper into caring for your customers. Bring them more values than they’ve already expected.

Saying this is easy. Achieving this is not as easy as breathing out the words. Grab a pen and think about what will benefit you customers. Then answer the questions: how you can bring those benefits into their hands and what will be the easy way for them to take these benefits?

So you have the formula and the ingredients, what’s next?

Hey cook, make me a delicious dish of customer support. I expect it to be not too spicy and well-tasted. Could you do that?

I do hope that those ingredients (tips) above will help your business and your customer support team to conquer your customer’s loyalty, make them “Wow” each time they browse your website and use your service. Like enjoying a good meal, refine your customer service so it will leave a good taste on your customer’s tongue then they’ll come back to you (with their friends, if you do it well).

Have you done it right? Why not share your experience here with me and others?