Customer Relations
Content
Reading activity
Reading
1 Customer relations
Providing excellent service is critical to the success of any business. Understanding the needs of customers and offering the right support can lead to positive interactions and build loyalty over time. Companies believe that offering top-notch customer support is crucial in fostering customer success.
By focusing on providing exceptional service, companies can ensure that their customers feel heard and appreciated. When customers feel valued, they are more likely to return and recommend a business to others. Building a loyal customer base is therefore an essential part of any long-term strategy.
Customer retention
Customer relations are key to customer retention. Retention is related to offering discounts or promotions as well as building meaningful relationships with customers and showing that a company genuinely cares about their satisfaction.
Companies also place emphasis on listening to their customers and their feedback. They believe that customer feedback is invaluable in helping them understand their needs and preferences, and it allows them to make informed decisions that ultimately benefit the customers.
To collect feedback, companies regularly conduct surveys, engage in social media listening, and encourage open communication through various communication channels such as email and live chat. They take every piece of feedback seriously and use it to guide their product development, customer service strategies, and overall business operations.
All in all, it is important to believe that by putting customers first, a company will continue to see growth and success. In order to achieve this, it is recommended to follow the following list of strategies.
Customer retention strategies
- Improve user onboarding
During the onboarding process, a company should ensure that the client is aware of the key benefits that a product offers. One way to do this is through training sessions that teach users about best practices and standardised workflows. Giving customers the tools they need to succeed will maximise customer satisfaction and decrease churn over time. - Create an achievable roadmap with customers
It is vital to be realistic when it comes to setting and delivering on customer expectations. An important step is to map out a roadmap that a new client is comfortable with. The roadmap should include realistic milestones and achievable goals. Key players, such as the customer success team, should be able to easily access this customer roadmap and act on this. - Get personal with social media support
Social media is the channel of choice when it comes to immediate response. Clients expect immediate and personalised customer service and social media really lends itself well to this task. Social media is a way to quickly resolve potential customer support issues or queries. What is more, it is also a way to create a connected and unified customer experience. - Segment customers to deliver the right content at the right time
The way a business collects, groups, and ultimately acts on data is vital to its success. Sales CRM software usually allows the segmentation of prospects and customers into groups based on how they interact with a brand. Businesses can use these insights to tailor marketing campaigns to the individual level of awareness of its customers and prospects. When it comes to retargeting efforts, email segmentation is the key to delivering the right content at the right time. A loyal existing customer does not want to receive offers for an initial purchase. - Use automated emails to encourage inactive users to take action
One way to increase retention is by ensuring customers are as active as possible. If a user has remained inactive for a while, an automated email through CRM system can induce this user to take action. For example, if a business is tracking how users interact with their product and notice that they have only used a small array of the features, an email explaining how to use other features could reignite their interest. Emails could include educational content such as best practice guides or successful case studies from other customers. - Upsell to existing customers
Upselling is a way to boost customer retention amongst loyal customers. By convincing them of the need for a premium or upgraded service, they become more invested in the brand. Using existing content assets such as e-books and whitepapers is a way of reminding existing customers about all the features product offers while ensuring that they remain as active as possible. - Create a personalised customer loyalty programme
A customer loyalty programme is a way of giving something back to customers while at the same time offering a chance to build a personal connection. Companies may enjoy success in providing retailers with a trackable loyalty points programme and insightful analytics into customer behaviour. - Create a referral programme
A referral programme can incentivise satisfied customers and increase customer loyalty. By offering upgrades, credits or other extras to existing clients, the number of new signups can be increased while engaging the existing users at the same time. Actively turning the most loyal customers into brand ambassadors increases their emotional connection to a brand – and that boosts retention.
Key vocabulary
Match the key expressions from the article above to their definitions.
| the process of building and maintaining positive relationships between a business and its customers | |
| to encourage and promote the development or growth of something | |
| the provision of assistance or guidance to customers who have questions or concerns about a product or service | |
| an adjective used to describe something of the highest quality or standard | |
| the group of customers who regularly purchase goods or services from a particular business | |
| a reduction in the price of a product or service, offered as an incentive to encourage customers to make a purchase | |
| a choice made after careful consideration of all available information and options | |
| the ability of a business to keep its existing customers over a period of time | |
| to gather information or opinions from a group of people through the use of questionnaires | |
| a marketing activity or campaign designed to increase the visibility and sales of a product or service |
2 Customer complaints and tips to solve them
Customer complaints - A guide for small businesses
Many business people regard a customer complaint as a negative experience. However, if a business handles complaints properly, previously unhappy customers may start singing their praises. It is recommended to consider a complaint as one of the best opportunities businesses have to show their commitment to creating another satisfied customer. Customer loyalty is one of the biggest assets a business has, therefore, it is vital to fight for this loyalty and be passionate about it.
Complaints should be handled sympathetically and promptly. Some businesses believe that if they do not receive many complaints, their customers must be satisfied. However, this is wrong as only a few customers will complain. The majority will not return to a business and will tell others about their bad experience.
Why should a business welcome complaints?
Facts to consider:
- a typical business hears from only 4% of its dissatisfied customers; the other 96% just go quietly away and 91% of them will never come back,
- a typical dissatisfied customer tells more than 8 people about their problem,
- 7 out of 10 complaining customers will do business with a business again if it resolves the complaint favourably.
Handling complaints
Try putting the following points into practice:
- Set up a complaint handling system and train staff to handle complaints well,
- Make it easy for customers to lodge a complaint,
- Welcome customer complaints and deal with complaints promptly.
Customer complaint tips
Customer complaint resolution is a form of service recovery that enables a business to resolve a customer complaint and improve the customer’s experience. Here are five best practices for efficient complaint resolution.
- Make answers easily accessible
Customers have a need for speed, and that means businesses need to act promptly. A searchable and accessible knowledge base can help agents and customers find the answers they need quickly. This allows agents to provide faster support and tackle more important issues. An accessible knowledge base can also empower customers to solve problems on their own. Companies use chatbots and keywords to make it easier for users to find what they need. - Ensure relevant details move with the customer across channels
Customers who have to repeat themselves throughout the complaint process may end up feeling frustrated with a brand as a whole. Arming their team with integrated support software that houses all customer information in one centralised location allows agents to find the relevant details about each customer—including their grievance, contact information, and purchase history—from the moment they start communicating with them. The conversation can stay connected, no matter how the customer chooses to interact. - Cultivate the right tone of voice and use reflective listening
It is common sense that confrontational customers can be temperamental, so even though it is challenging to stay calm and collected when dealing with an angry buyer, it is paramount that agents do so. Agents must strive to diffuse the situation with measured responses while remaining human, empathetic, curious, helpful, and Customers who are upset want to feel heard. With this in mind, businesses try not to resolve consumer complaints before taking the time to understand them. Instead, they start by being present and using reflective listening. Repeating the customer’s complaint back to them can confirm they understand. - Acknowledge their frustrations
Sometimes, customers may be frustrated with things that are beyond businesses’ control. Other times, though, businesses find themselves in the wrong. Taking responsibility for their actions demonstrates that their business values integrity, which will increase the customer’s confidence in them. - Set realistic expectations and present a solution
Being upfront with customers about how long it may take to resolve their issue or how much a business can do for them, not making promises they cannot keep may make people understand any limitations on what an agent can offer, as long as a reasonable expectation is communicated from the start. As soon as a business understands the problem, they follow up and determine the best path forward—whether that is talking the customer through troubleshooting steps, sending a replacement product, offering a refund, or genuinely apologising when they cannot deliver what they were hoping for. Giving customers something so they walk away feeling better about the brand is highly appreciated.
Key vocabulary
Find words and phrases in the Customer complaints text above which mean:
- take action in order to solve a problem (three synonyms):handle, deal with, resolve
- showing your approval (idiom):singing your praises
- willingness to give your time and energy to something (noun):commitment
- useful qualities or advantages that have a value for the company (plural noun):assets
- repeatedly purchasing goods or services from one company; not changing for another company (phrase):customer loyalty
- immediately (adverb):promptly
- not satisfied (adjective):dissatisfied
- make an official complaint (phrase):lodge a complaint
Glossary
-
Seznam použitých symbolů a zkratek
↻ uvozuje slovo nebo frázi se stejným nebo podobným významem (synonymum) 📖 uvozuje slovo nebo frázi s opačným významem (antonymum), případně podobně znějící výraz s odlišným významem [ ] obsahuje přepis výslovnosti ( ) obsahuje vysvětlení (například zkratky nebo zpřesnění významu), doplnění nebo část výrazu či slova, která může být v závislosti na kontextu vynechána i upozorňuje na nepravidelné (irregular) sloveso vyšší než mírně pokročilé úrovně a tím zároveň odkazuje na seznam těchto nepravidelných sloves na konci glosáře / zkracuje dvě (nebo i více) stejné syntaktické konstrukce do jediné (například „dosáhnout/docílit čeho“ místo „dosáhnout čeho, docílit čeho“) adj přídavné jméno (adjective) AmE výraz z americké angličtiny (American English) BrE výraz z britské angličtiny (British English) C počitatelné podstatné jméno (countable) n podstatné jméno (noun) pl množné číslo (plural) sb zájmeno někdo, uváděné po předložkách a/nebo slovesných vazbách (somebody) sg jednotné číslo (singular) sth zájmeno něco, uváděné po předložkách a/nebo slovesných vazbách (something) U nepočitatelné podstatné jméno (uncountable) -
Glossary
access ‹n; U › přístup accessible ‹adj› dostupný, dosažitelný accounting error ‹n› účetní chyba achievable ‹adj› dosažitelný, proveditelný to aim at sth cílit, zaměřit se na co appreciated ‹adj› vážený, ceněný to arm sb with sth vyzbrojit, vybavit koho čím array ‹n› [əˈreɪ] (celá) řada, velké množství, spousta assets ‹n; pl› aktiva, jmění (podniku) automated email automatický email aware of sth ‹adj› vědomý si čeho to benefit sb profitovat, prospívat komu to boost sth zvýšit, podpořit co bounty ‹n; U› hojnost brand ambassador ambasador značky business ‹n› obchod businesslike ‹adj› věcný, efektivní chatbot ‹n› softwarový konverzační robot to churn odejít jako zákazník od značky, opustit značku churn ‹n› odliv zákazníků od značky collected ‹adj› rozvážný, klidný commitment ‹n; U› odhodlání communication channels komunikační kanály v obchodě (např. osobní komunikace, email, telefon) to conduct sth provádět co to conduct a survey [ˈsɜː(r)veɪ] provádět průzkum content assets komunikační kanály značky propagující produkt convincing ‹adj› přesvědčivý, věrohodný CRM (Customer relationship management) řízení vztahů se zákazníky crucial ‹adj› klíčový, rozhodující, zásadní customer base zákaznická základna customer experience zákaznická zkušenost customer relations vztahy se zákazníky customer service zákaznický servis customer support zákaznická podpora to deal with sth zabývat se čím, vyřizovat co to deliver sth předat co to deliver on sth naplnit očekávání, splnit slib discount ‹n› sleva to diffuse sth zde vyřešit co, rozptýlit co to earn sth získat co, vysloužit co emphasis ‹n; U› důraz to empower sb oprávnit koho, umožnit komu to encourage sth pobídnout, přesvědčit k čemu to ensure sth [ɪnˈʃɔː(r)] zajistit co exceptional ‹adj› výjimečný experience ‹n; C› zážitek extras ‹n; pl› nadstandardní věci, pozornost podniku favourably ‹adv› příznivě, kladně feedback ‹n; U› zpětná vazba to foster sth podporovat, pěstovat co genuinely ‹adv› skutečně, opravdově to guide sb/sth vést, řídit koho/co grievance ‹n› stížnost to handle sth vyřídit, vyřešit co handling ‹n› vyřizování; zacházení honest ‹adj› upřímný; čestný, poctivý impersonal ‹adj› neosobní incentive ‹n› podnět, stimul to incentivise [ɪnˈsen.tɪ.vaɪz] pobídnout, stimulovat inconvenience ‹n› [ɪnkənˈviːniəns] nepříjemnost, komplikace indifferent ‹adj› nevšímavý, lhostejný to induce sth vyvolat, způsobit co inefficient ‹adj› [ˌɪn.ɪˈfɪʃ.ənt] neefektivní, nevýkonný, neschopný informed decision kvalifikované rozhodnutí initial ‹adj› první insightful ‹adj› chytrý, pronikavý interaction ‹n› vzájemná komunikace invaluable ‹adj› neocenitelný, k nezaplacení invested ‹adj› zainvestovaný, zainteresovaný invoice ‹n› faktura knowledgeable ‹adj› dobře informovaný, orientovaný laid-back ‹adj› pohodový late delivery opožděné dodání zboží likely ‹adv› pravděpodobně live chat živý chat na webových stránkách obchodu to lodge sth vznést, podat co to lodge a complaint vznést, podat stížnost loyalty ‹n› věrnost, oddanost loyalty programme věrnostní program meaningful ‹adj› významný measured ‹adj› uvážlivý, uměřený milestone ‹n› milník, důležitý bod need ‹n› potřeba onboarding ‹n; U› získání a udržení zákazníka order ‹n› objednávka, zakázka overall ‹adj› celý, celkový overcharge ‹n› předražení, naúčtování příliš vysoké ceny overdue ‹adj› pozdní, po lhůtě splatnosti paramount ‹adj› primární, prvořadý passionate ‹adj› nadšený, zanícený to place sth klást co to place emphasis on sth klást důraz na co preference ‹n› upřednostnění, preference profound ‹adj› hluboký, silný promotion ‹n; U› propagace, reklamní nabídka promptly ‹adv› okamžitě, ihned prospect ‹n› eventuální zákazník, možný zákazník to provide sth poskytovat co to provide service poskytovat službu purchase ‹n› koupě, nákup query ‹n› [ˈkwɪə.ri] dotaz questionnaire ‹n› dotazník referral ‹n› [rɪˈfɜː.rəl] doporučení, odkázání reflective ‹adj› reflexní refund ‹n› vrácení peněz to reignite sth [ˌriː.ɪɡˈnaɪt] opětovně zažehnout co repeat business ‹n› opakovaný nákup replacement ‹n› náhrada, výměna resolution ‹n› vyřešení to resolve sth vyřešit co to retarget sth přesměrovat co retention ‹n› retence, udržení zákazníků roadmap zde zákaznická cesta to satisfy sth uspokojit co searchable ‹adj› dohledatelný segmentation ‹n› segmentace, rozdělení service ‹n› služba, servis service recovery proces znovuzískání spokojenosti i důvěry zákazníka short-staffed ‹adj› [ʃɔː(r)t ˈstɑːft] mající podstav, mající nedostatek pracovníků to sing sb’s praises opěvovat koho/co social media listening monitorování sociálních médií to stick through thick and thin zůstat v dobrém i ve zlém to strive to do sth snažit se, usilovat o co to subtract sth odečíst co supplier ‹n› dodavatel to support sb/sth podporovat koho surgical ‹adj› chirurgický survey ‹n› [ˈsɜː.veɪ] průzkum sympathetically ‹adv› s pochopením to tackle sth vyřídit, vyřešit co to tailor sth přizpůsobit co to take action jednat, konat temperamental adj› impulzivní, náladový top-notch ‹adj; infml› prvotřídní, špičkový to track sth sledovat co trackable ‹adj› sledovatelný trade-off ‹n› něco za něco transactional ‹adj› obchodní troubleshooting ‹n; C› řešení problémů ultimately ‹adv› zcela unobtrusive ‹adj› nenápadný, nerušivý upfront ‹adj› přímý, otevřený upmarket ‹adj› luxusní, pro náročné zákazníky upselling ‹n; U› zvyšování prodeje, kdy prodejce nabídne zákazníkovi produkt nebo službu vyšší cenové kategorie upset ‹adj› znepokojený, rozrušený valuable ‹adj› cenný, hodnotný whitepapers propagační materiály workflow ‹n; U› pracovní postup
Definitions
-
Customer Relations
access to open a computer file or use a computer system achievable one that is possible to achieve appreciated having one’s work or qualities recognized and enjoyed by other people array a group or collection of things, especially one that is attractive or causes admiration automated email message automatically sent from email service provider in direct response to an individual user's specific actions made (or not made) on website or web app aware knowing that something exists benefit to be useful to somebody or improve their life in some way boost to increase or improve brand ambassador a person who is paid or given free products by a company in exchange for wearing or using its products and trying to encourage others to do so business the fact of a customer buying goods or services at a shop churn to decide to stop using a service offered by one company and to use another company, usually because it offers a better service or price commitment a promise or a firm decision to do something communication channels a system or method that is used for communicating with customers, e.g. face to face, phone calls, email etc. conduct a survey to organise and do an investigation of the opinions, behaviour, etc. of customers, which is usually done by asking them questions content assets any piece of content representing a brand, for example, a blog post that a business uses in service of a greater marketing goal convincing able to make one believe that something is true or right CRM Customer relationship management crucial extremely important or necessary customer base all the people who buy or use a particular product or service customer experience what it is like for a customer to buy a particular product or service, for example, how easy or pleasant it is customer relations the state of the relationship between a company and its customers customer retention the action of keeping customers rather than losing them customer service the help and advice that a company gives people who buy or use its products or services customer support a service provided by a company that helps customers deliver to provide deliver on to do something that has been promised discount an amount of money that is taken off the usual cost of something emphasis special importance that is given to something encourage to make something more likely to happen ensure to make sure that something happens or is definite exceptional unusually good experience what it is like for a customer to use a service extras something that is added when a customer pays for goods or a service feedback advice, criticism or information about how good or useful something or somebody’s work is foster to encourage something to develop genuinely truly; in a way that is exactly what it appears to be and is not artificial goal an aim guide to direct or influence somebody’s behaviour or the development of something handle to deal with incentivise to make someone want to do something induce to persuade someone to do something informed decision a decision or judgement based on an understanding of the facts of a situation initial purchase first-time act of buying something insightful showing a clear understanding of a complicated problem or situation interactions the act of communicating with customers invaluable extremely useful invested putting money into something in order to get an advantage likely probable to happen live chat means of communication for visitors of website where assistance from customer support agents or bots is provided long-term continuing a long time into the future loyalty the quality of customers of being constant in their support of a business loyalty programme a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business meaningful serious and important milestone an important event in the development or history of something needs the things a customer must have for a satisfactory life onboarding the process of teaching new customers the value of a product or service order a request for goods made by a customer overall including everything or everyone; in total place to give, put place emphasis to give special importance to something preference a thing that is liked better or best by a customer promotion activities done in order to increase the sales of a product or service; a set of advertisements for a particular product or service prospect a person regarded as likely to succeed or as a potential customer provide service to give customers in hotels, restaurants, and shops the help and advice they need query a question, often one expressing doubt about something or looking for information referral programme the system of directing someone to a different place reignite to motivate something happen again repeat business the fact of a customer’s buying goods or services at a shop again resolve to solve or end a problem retarget to change the direction roadmap a plan for how to achieve something segmentation the division of something into smaller parts service the act of dealing with customers in a shop, restaurant, or hotel by taking their orders, showing or selling them goods, etc. social media listening the monitoring of a brand's social media channels for any customer feedback and direct mentions of the brand support to give or be ready to give help to customers if they need it tailor to adjust something to suit a particular need or situation top-notch infml excellent; of the highest quality track to follow trackable capable of being tracked and followed ultimately finally, in the end upselling the practice of offering other or better goods or services to a customer who is already buying something whitepapers sales and marketing documents used to make or persuade potential customers to learn more about a particular product workflow the order of the stages in a particular process -
Customer complaints and tips to solve them + Exercises
accounting error a mistake on a financial statement which happens by accident accessible able to be reached or easily obtained appreciated highly valued arm to provide somebody with something asset a thing of value, especially property, that a person or company owns, which can be used or sold to pay debts businesslike working in an efficient and organised way and not wasting time or thinking about personal things chatbot a computer programme designed to have a conversation with a human being, especially over the internet collected showing control over one’s feelings commitment the desire to work hard and give energy and time to a job or an activity deal with to take appropriate action in a particular situation diffuse to make something less noticeable or weaker efficient working well and quickly empower to give someone official authority or the freedom to do something experience a situation that affects somebody’s feelings favourably in a way that is positive and shows a good opinion of somebody/something grievance a complaint or a strong feeling of having been treated unfairly handle to deal with a situation handling the way a company deals with or treats a situation honest not hiding the truth about something impersonal having no friendly human feelings or atmosphere; making a customer feel unimportant inconvenience an annoying problem or situation, especially one that forces a customer to make an extra effort to do something indifferent having or showing no interest in somebody/something inefficient not doing a job well and not making the best use of time and money integrity the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles invoice a list of goods that have been sold, work that has been done, etc., showing what a customer must pay knowledgeable knowing a lot laid-back calm and relaxed; seeming not to worry about anything late delivery the act of taking goods to customer with a delay lodge to make a formal statement about something to a public organisation or authority measured controlled overcharge make somebody pay too much for something overdue not paid by the required or expected time paramount more important than anything else passionate having or showing strong feelings of enthusiasm for something or belief in something promptly quickly, without delay recovery improvement reflective showing active listening refund an amount of money that is given back because a customer is not happy with a product or service replacement a thing that replaces something, especially because the first thing is broken resolution the act of solving or ending a problem or difficulty searchable easy to search for and find service recovery the process of restoring customer satisfaction and trust after a service failure short-staffed having fewer members of staff than a company needs or usually has singing someone’s praises to speak very highly of something or someone strive to try very hard to do something or to make something happen, especially for a long time or against difficulties subtract to take a number or an amount away from another number or amount, the symbol for this is – supplier a company that provides goods or services to another company sympathetically in a way that is kind to somebody who is hurt or sad, and that shows that a company understands and cares about their problems tackle to try to deal with something temperamental with often changing mood quickly transactional focusing on the process of buying or selling, rather than being emotional troubleshooting discovering why something does not work effectively and making suggestions about how to improve it unobtrusive not attracting unnecessary attention upfront speaking or behaving in a way which makes intentions and beliefs clear upset unhappy, angry