Though many tour & activity operations have affirmed the customer is always right, Zeke Adkins from Entrepreneur magazine said it better - customers are not always right but they are never wrong.
When it comes to dealing with client concerns, frustrations, criticisms, pushback, or even grudges, there are methods of dealing with such complaints that can result in better outcomes than others.
In this post, we will highlight eight key methods of dealing with customer service to help businesses recognize the most efficient ways of handling the more undesirable sorts of interactions.
We hope this post helps you provide excellent customer support but that it also helps you secure loyal promoters that share their positive experience(s) with future customers.
1. Use social media, email, chat bots & other online platforms as primary methods of communication.
This is not to say that speaking with someone is unacceptable but rather that it is disfavored by a fair portion of people. According to one study by Conversocial, 32% of participants found phone & voice calling to be the most frustrating way of dealing with customer service. Be sure to offer good support via online mediums to cater to a more tech-savy & newer generation of clientele.
Additionally, tour businesses should consider the ancillary benefits of using more online mediums as opposed to phones to provide support:
- The cost of virtual support is far cheaper than phone & voice support.
- Reduced phone support means less frustrated employees.
- Less administrative work required for repeat issues or similar concerns means more resources available for tasks at-hand.
- Online messaging can be made on public channels as to necessitate good behavior on behalf of a customer while demonstrating transparency on a business’s behalf.
2. Value a customer’s time and find a way to demonstrate this understanding.
In a customer service study published by Forrester, 73% of participants stated that valuing their time is the most important thing a business can do to provide good customer service.
Though this may seem like a no-brainer, recognizing and acting upon this fact can greatly contribute to providing exemplary customer service. Whether this takes the form of solving an issue as fast as possible, stating words that demonstrate the understanding of a customer’s frustration, etc., the choice remains at the discretion of individual businesses.
3. Respond quickly. The value of fast responses can be quantified & monetized.
In 2015, Twitter paired up with Applied Marketing Science and found that in the context of domestic air travel, customers are willing to pay $20 more for an air ticket when airlines respond to Tweets within 6 minutes. Yet, by contrast, only $2.33 more if an airline take longer than an hour to respond.
Who knew that quicker replies could lead to additional sales & revenue for a company?
Now let’s take a look at this idea from a referral standpoint. In a study by NM Incite, respondents were asked to rank the values of slow but effective support vs fast but ineffective support with respects to companies offerings goods and services. It was found that a higher 33% of respondents were likely to recommend a service that had fast but ineffective support while only a lower 17% of respondents were likely to refer a company that provided slow but effective customer support!
The kicker is, even when no support was provided, customers were still 19% likely to make a referral. All conditions equal, customers really do hate slow support!
Conclusion
There are many notable facets of customer service that should be taken into account in the tour & activity space. Given that customers are never wrong it is taking feedback and data-driven analysis that will help move your customer support forward. We hope these specific pieces of advice will complement your existing structures for customers but be sure to check out our other helpful resources found here. If you have any questions, comments or feedback regarding this recent post please don't hesitate to give us a shout!