If the customer is always right, then it’s crucial to keep them happy. Andy Cullwick, director of marketing at First4Lawyers, explains how.
In today’s age of social media where a company’s reputation can be trashed in a matter of minutes, it’s never been more important to get the customer experience right.
A five-star service is likely to pay dividends in terms of good reviews but get it wrong and – as the saying goes – bad news travels fast.
Sounds simple? It isn’t. Delivering great customer service is a work in progress, especially when what consumers want seems to be constantly changing, but drilling down into the data will at least help you find out what’s working and what’s not.
‘Pain points’
You don’t need to have fancy software to capture your customers’ movements and it’s likely that you already have access to more data than you realise. As well as your own records and any customer reviews, complaints or feedback forms, there is also Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a free tool that can tell you how people are using your website and/or app.
Use customer journey mapping to plot what a potential customer’s interactions with your company look like, from visiting your website to talking to you on the phone, corresponding via email or social media.
This will help you identify any issues that could be turning people off. For example, is there a high drop-off rate on a particular web page and why is that? Are you providing the information that customers want? Are they losing interest because you’re taking too long to respond? Are you calling them when they would prefer email or vice versa?
Convenience is a huge part of consumers’ decision-making nowadays and engaging with them at the time and place that suits them is key.
It is also important to monitor and properly evaluate any changes you do make so that you can see whether these have resulted in any improvements or not.
Nobody’s perfect
Survey after survey has shown that the vast majority of customer complaints made are as a result of poor communication. Everyone makes mistakes and no one – customers included – expects you to be perfect, but it’s what you do next that counts.
People want to be kept updated, even if it’s not always the answer they want to hear, and it’s better to own your mistakes and learn from them rather than over promise and under deliver.
Nowadays, complaints often come in the form of negative online reviews and firms may, understandably, think twice about admitting their shortcomings for all to see.
It is a mistake to just ignore these, however, and worse still to demand the reviewer takes it down which is only likely to inflame the situation more.
Responding in a measured way acknowledges that the review has been read and is a chance for you to thank them for bringing it to your attention, apologise if appropriate, and outline the steps you are taking to investigate and/or resolve the problem. It may not appease everyone, but at least others will see and appreciate your efforts.
Also important is knowing when to walk away. Not something that could be said of Jacqueline Samuels, a property lawyer who is currently suing a former client over three negative online reviews. Samuels has also previously sued another client, but the claim was struck out.
Would you instruct a lawyer who might take you to court if you didn’t like her work? Whoever wins this time round, the damages are unlikely to outweigh the damage she has already done to her own reputation.
Andy Cullwick has worked in marketing for more than 25 years, the last decade of which has been working for First4Lawyers. The UK’s largest independent legal marketing collective, which matches potential claimants with specialist lawyers and is seven-time winner at the Personal Injury Awards, is based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.