Merchants need customers. This is a simple fact of business. The challenge for merchants is in attracting and then keeping these customers. Building customer loyalty and convincing these customers to trust the brand are key in customer retention.
This hoped-for longevity often hinges on the first contact the customer has with the merchant. This often occurs when the customer contacts the customer service team with a problem or question. Now the pressure is on the customer service team to find a solution and keeping the customer satisfied. Any missteps during this first interaction can result in a lost sale, chargebacks, friendly fraud, negative social media reviews, and a lost customer.
For most merchants, the value of the customer service team cannot be overlooked. These employees are on the front lines of customer interaction, often dealing with unhappy and even angry people. This is not an easy job nor should its value as a service be overlooked. Solving customer problems, responding to questions, and going above and beyond can be the difference between keeping a loyal customer and losing a customer forever.
But what does this have to do with chargebacks and chargeback protection? To put it simply, the more accessible and well-intended a customer service team presents themselves to customers to provide good service and help resolve problems, the more likely a chargeback can be prevented.
Don’t Overlook Customer Service
To provide good customer service and prevent chargebacks, merchants need to be accessible. Customers are looking for the easiest way to get a resolution to their problem, and, too often, the easy route is to contact their card-issuing bank. When merchants are the key player in communication and able to deal directly with the customer, the problem can be solved and the chargeback can be avoided.
The problem, however, is that most merchants lack the solutions in place to support direct customer-merchant interaction. Along with the implementation of a payment solution, such as CDRN which supports real-time communication with the customer, merchants need to focus on instructing and directing their customer service team to provide helpful resolution strategies.
All it takes to keep a customer happy is a positive interaction with a customer service team member. To ensure and maintain appropriate standards, merchants must work with their customer service team members to reinforce best business practices to build customer loyalty and satisfaction.
- Be available. An unhappy customer might not have the patience to search for the customer service email address or phone number. Make it easy for the customer to reach out and get help. Include a customer service email link, phone number, or feature a live chat option on every web page and during the payment and checkout process.
- Be flexible. There are always exceptions to the rule, so consider empowering your customer service team the to make decisions that do not rigidly conform to posted refund and return policies.
- Be loyal. Cater to your the long-term and VIP customers – especially during the busy holiday sales period. Clear review of your customer’s purchase history can help the customer service team member make a decision on how best to solve the problem.
- Be proactive. Respond to customer queries quickly and efficiently. Remember, the customer is unhappy and the longer the customer has to wait for a response, the more likely he is to give up and file a chargeback.
While the customer might not always be right, the merchant must keep the customer happy and loyal.
Clear Lines of Communication
Your customers chose you and now you need to work hard to cultivate their loyalty. Don’t assume that because you have a fancy website or mobile app, or because you have the best product, that you’ll be able to keep your customers.
Maintaining customer loyalty comes down to clear and straightforward communication. Interact with your customers to respond to their problems and questions. Be available and make it easy for them to work with you.
Remember that you are not the only choice for the customer, so it’s important that you stand out from the crowd. You can do this with an outstanding customer service team and with the support that a dispute resolution solution such as CDRN provides.
Now is the time to review your customer service practices and to review how you interact with your customers. Don’t wait for the crush of the holiday shopping season to make changes to your customer service policies and payment solutions. Contact us today and our experts can advise on how to put the solutions in place that can prevent chargebacks and keep your customers loyal.