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    8 Customer Care Ideas to Surprise Online Clients

    July 25, 2019

July 25, 2019

8 Customer Care Ideas to Surprise Online Clients

If you’re a merchant, you’ll know for sure about the high level of the competition in online and in-store shopping. Without appropriate customer care ideas it’s difficult to deal with always growing shopper’s expectations and price wars, direct-to-consumer brands and fights for wining buyer’s attention.

That is why, it’s extremely important for customers to be appreciated and heard by the company. As they feel that you care, the chances that they’ll be supporting your goods and services are much higher. On the contrary, lack of attention to them results in the loss of interest in your brand at all.

To navigate you through this important strategy, we’ve made a list of eight customer care ideas which you can apply in your company to make the clients feel surprised and appreciated.

1. Find special ideas for each channel

A crucial part of a customer care strategy is keeping in touch with customers on various platforms and devices. Clients may have different desires and preferences when they choose at what platform and through which channel of communication they will contact brands.

For some people phone call is the best option, for others sending an email or direct texting through messenger or social network. Be certain that you cover all the possible ways for communication and on each channel you’re applying methods of customer care ideas.

One of the examples of the most successful examples of that can be Target. The company established a help center for a fast guiding of shoppers through the needed departments. Furthermore, Target is incredibly active on all of the main social networks, responding to the comments on Facebook and answering questions on Instagram.

They also have their Target Twitter account especially for providing customer care and reply to the mentions on twits. Target communicates with their clients in their own language.

This is only the first field where you can bond with your customers and here comes more.

2. Make every interaction with your customer personal

You must’ve heard about personalization before but it’s important to always remember about it.

Personalization is not just about putting somebody’s name in the beginning of an email or customer-based offers. It is about the connection between you and customers and the sense of being special and understood that they should have­. The whole idea of personalization is aimed at them feeling extraordinary and notable.

Shoppers receive “personalized” messages on a daily basis. You can make certain about that after just searching for your name in a mailbox, where you’ll find some marketing emails from brands you follow.

All in all, personalization requires not only a subject line. You need to reach a relationship with each client and send messages which would be special and original. One of the ways to do that is sending handwritten cards. Such letters seem to be more personal as an actual worker wrote and signed them.

For example, Chanel’s note by Courtney among “thank you for the purchase” also refers to exact moments of the interaction Courtney and a customer had during their visit. This makes a letter even more individual.

Another company which successfully used this tactic is Hockerty, an online menswear shop. Last Christmas brand had a campaign with handwritten notes for their top clients. For each customer they did a special card in their own language and, for even more personalized effect, with a mention of their last purchases. There was also a promotional code for a free shirt to support client’s attention to the brand.

A handwritten letter is a customer care conception you can easily apply to your business.

3. Be initiative with updates and notifications

Many online stores work extra hard trying to make a client to buy something. Companies can send marketing messages several days a week and there’s nothing wrong with it.

You should worry about your sales and should send emails on a regular basis to always remind clients about you. At the same time, you shouldn’t pay less attention to customer worries and react on them with the same enthusiasm.

The most effective way to show clients that you care is to keep in touch when it’s really necessary for them to talk to you but not only when you want to sell something. You should be aware of everything connected with purchases, customer’s satisfaction and service.

Update customers with their questions of concern: order or ticket status, its delivery. Taking the lead in communication with a client (instead of making them ask their questions themselves) demonstrates that you’re bothered by their after-purchase experience. This establishes reliance and leads to repeated purchases.

For example, Sephora is good at sending automatic updates of the order status or making a return and getting a refund. The company sends an email on each stage of the order delivery: shipping, arriving soon, arrived to the place of destination. If a customer made a decision to return an item, Sephora will inform you when they get a package back.

Take this responsibility and don’t let customers worry about their orders and its returns.

4. Customers’ celebration

Most of the customer care tactics can be transformed into reality through personal communication with a consumer (a phone call or an email) but there is also public appreciation to demonstrate your love to the customers. Drawing attention to your best patrons on your brand’s website or social networks is a good way to support your customer care policy.

For example, Reformation which monthly spotlights its clients in its Instagram Stories or Birchbox which throws a huge customer care campaign every year. They celebrate their own holiday CAD (Customer Appreciation Day) and yearly make up something special for their shoppers. It’s either a giveaway, video devoted to their customers or anything else – Birchbox always knows how to make the clients feel cherished.

5. Be nostalgic about the time you spent together

Use your customer data to summarize client’s history with your brand. For instance, many companies send annual reviews which give customers an opportunity to remember their purchases during the year or intercommunication with your company.

Shoppers value the chance to reminisce and retrospect their past, that is why, it’s another nice way to bond with your clients. Maybe this special bonding will inspire them for their next purchase.

There is no need to wait till the end of the year to make a review message. Some companies, as Southwest Airlines, send “Rapid Rewards Report” which is based on the time a client spent with a brand (e.g., 6 month).

6. Remember about flexibility

Although it’s necessary to develop customer policies and guides, always keep in mind that every customer is different and has their own demands. Be flexible and teach your employees this flexibility so they could apply it in the communication with a customer.

Nordstrom, a brand well-known for its customer service, succeeds among companies for which making a connection with clients in 21st century is a difficulty. A secret for Nordstrom’s success is their customer care policy.

Instead of following strict rules, Nordstrom rely on personal judgement of its workers when it comes to solving clients’ problems. Also the company has flexible policy of returns and exchanges. Sometimes having such mobile policies might not be a contribution to your business. However, it is always worth it to re-estimate customer care programs that you personally have to see whether you need to change something or not.

Should you be more tolerant to your VIP clients? Can you do anything else to make customers feel taken care of? Answers to these questions may help you to understand how to correct your customer care policy and make it better.

7. Start educational initiatives

Teach your clients something new and show them that you care.

Sephora, for instance, gives in-store classes on makeup and self-care topics. The classes are almost individual and customers have time to ask all the questions which bother. Although all the participants can buy the makeup tools they used during the class, there’s no pressure to do that.

If you run an online shop you can still offer your customers to gain new skills and knowledge. Dollar Shave Club, for example, on a regular basis send explanatory and informative articles in their emails on personal care and grooming.

8. Extra care about your VIP clients

While it’s important to take care of every customer, it’s extra important to pay attention to your VIPs. There are many ways to make this type of clients feel unique and extremely significant.

It doesn’t only help to build up a strong relationship with a brand but also support customer’s desire to make another purchase and come to the store again. The Nordy Club successfully applies this tactic in its Nordstrom’s loyalty program. Aside from getting point for purchases, members of the program also get special privileges such as early access to sales or member-only events.

Remember about the in-store experience

Paying attention to your shoppers also includes asking about their experience at your store and taking into consideration the feedback about it. How was the service? Was the product they tried to find in stock? Did the store make an impression of a tidy and organized place?

With Journey IQ retailers find priceless insider’s opinion on the store on special missions for customers. You in turn give them a discount on a future purchase and a feeling of being appreciated and important to the company.

Genuine customer care is not just the service you provide. It’s also a way to make your clients happier. Whether it’s the content you upload on social networks, post-purchase care or marketing procedures you should always show the clients your appreciation. We hope that this post helped you to find ways how to do it.