Your customers don’t make decisions about your business based on the quality of your customer service alone. Instead, they most often decide whether they’ll continue to do business with you based on their experiences with you. That’s why people who receive a delicious meal but poor service at a restaurant don’t very often go back. And your customers are the same way – they might receive an awesome product, but they’re unlikely to do repeat business if the customer service stinks.

So how do you provide a good customer service experience? You start by avoiding these common mistakes…

Mistake 1: Placing Low Priority on Customer Service

Sometimes business owners look at customer service as a nuisance, and so they end up putting it on a low priority. That’s a mistake. Without your customers, you have no business. That’s why you’ll want to be sure that everything from your web design to ordering process to customer care experience is your top priority so that your visitors walk away satisfied.

Mistake 2: Taking Too Long to Answer Customer Inquiries

Shopping online is a fast-paced activity, and if you don’t answer customer service inquiries quickly, your prospect will move on to your competitor. That’s why you want to make sure you answer inquiries the same day, and even within an hour or two if possible.

Mistake 3: Not Providing Any Other Contact Format Other Than an Email Address

The problem with handling all customer service strictly through email is that emails can get lost – on your end or the customer’s end. And when they do get lost, the customer will assume you’re ignoring him or her. As you might suspect, that’s a problem.

The solution? Use a help desk platform instead. Even if you use email, the help desk platform keeps a record of the entire conversation so replies never get lost.

Mistake 4: Failing to Train Your Customer Service Reps

Another common mistake is to assume that your hired staff knows everything there is to know about providing good customer care. That’s not necessarily true, even if they are experienced. That’s why you’ll want to lay out instructions for all your staff about how to handle customer service inquiries, including:

• Offering cut and paste answers for common inquiries.
• Providing training on how to incorporate your business branding into customer service replies, where applicable.
• General instruction about what you expect, such as how to address customers and prospects.

Mistake 5: Not Anticipating High-Volume

If you’re running a big sale, launching a product, investing in more in advertising, or even enjoying content that’s gone viral, then it’s likely you’re going to experience more volume than normal at your help desk. Make sure you anticipate these higher-volume days and proactively bring on more staff to handle the extra load.

Customers are the lifeblood of your business, so make sure you treat them right. Your first step? Avoid the five mistakes listed above!