The customer service representative you provide is proportional to the support you will receive from your customers. Customer service is not limited to providing an item; instead, it’s the client’s experience before and after a sale. Negative customer reviews can destroy your hard work. Research shows that if you can increase customer retention rates by 5%, your profits will surge by 25% to up to 95%. Therefore, you must offer the best service possible. But let’s look at how to improve customer service using a virtual assistant.Â
Why do we improve customer service?
We improve customer service to increase customer satisfaction and retention, which can lead to more repeat business and positive word-of-mouth advertising. Additionally, good customer service can help build a positive reputation for a company, attracting new customers. Improving customer service can also help reduce customer complaints and negative feedback, improving overall company performance.
What is excellent customer service?Â
Excellent customer service goes beyond the expectations of your clients – meaning that you outperform the standard customer service level. This is a level that your average client will expect from you, but it’s also influenced by how you brand your business. If, for instance, you market your business as a luxury goods enterprise, the quality of materials used should match customer expectations.
Four parameters can influence your customer service levels, namely:
- Order-fill rate (meaning the amount of inventory on hand).
- Stock-out rate (which can be avoided if your service levels are optimized).
- The back-order level (meaning the number of back-orders that must be executed).
- The probability of on-time delivery.
The latter is crucial for an eCommerce business as it indirectly correlates directly with the service level.
Nonetheless, if you want to have a good brand image, better than your competitors, you must ensure that your customer service levels are near perfect.Â
Standards to determine your service levels
Besides these parameters, several service standards are expected by a customer. These are:
- Patience from the business – so make sure that you master this skill
- Being addressed respectfully – this means in a polite but also a humble manner
- A clear grasp of what the customer is looking for
- Understanding and giving suggestions – so do your homework and try better to understand your client’s wants and needs
- Kindness and no intimidation by a salesperson.
The parameters and standards will determine your service levels. Your customer service level should not be your goal. Instead, your service will flow from your system. One idea you could adopt to enhance your service is hiring a customer service virtual assistant for your eCommerce business.
What is a virtual assistant for an eCommerce business?
In short, a virtual assistant, or VA, is a skilled person assisting with the time-consuming tasks of running an eCommerce business, such as dealing with administrative tasks, project managing, accounting, and even paralegal services. It depends on what you are looking for: there are various types of VAs. However, VAs have one thing in common – they all work remotely in their own home offices.
As a business owner, this means you can spend less on such an employee. You do not have to set up an office space for them, and you do not need to employ them on a full monthly basis, nor do you have to pay them when they are on leave. There are also benefits for the VAs as they can work from home without commuting or additional expenses. VAs also have more flexible times, allowing them to fit in personal activities like going to the gym or attending classes.
Why do I need to hire a virtual assistant if my regular staff can handle the work?
To answer the question of how to improve customer service using a virtual assistant: one cannot ignore the financial benefits of a VA after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on so many companies. One survey released in September 2021 stated that 23.4% of all small businesses surveyed in the USA indicated that COVID-19 had negatively affected their businesses. More so, the survey showed that only 2% believed the pandemic positively impacted their business.Â
Business owners must consider how they spend their money, predominantly their ROI. The virtual assistant comes in. Besides the monetary benefit, a VA can bring additional skills to your company. This means you would be improving the work/balance for your employees and yourself. Yes, it could even mean you can delegate some of your work and have the time to go on a family vacation or attend your child’s play. A knock-on effect will be increased productivity since the mood in the office will improve. This also means fewer sick days, but you will attract higher-quality staff to your business.
Therefore if you are asking yourself this question: How can I improve my customer service? It would be best if you considered outsourcing some of the time-consuming tasks to a customer service virtual assistant.
The bottom line about how to improve customer service and find your virtual assistant
At Aristo Sourcing, we make the process easy for you to obtain great people. We use a simple but effective four-step process to find you the best assistant based on your needs. As your needs change, we are here to help you source substitutes or additional aides to help you grow your business.
Arrange a personal and free meeting with our sales team. Let them guide you through the process to find you a VA that will work for you. For business owners wanting to book a complimentary consultation, please click here.