Dewell Marketing

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Have a Great Customer Service Plan

It is very important to have a first-class customer service plan whenever you set yourself up as a virtual assistant. Existing clients will be so pleased with what they get that they will come back again and again and will tell everybody else how good your service is, leading to more clients who will, in turn, be very impressed right from the beginning.

The Takeaway Coffee Principle!

Is great customer service difficult to achieve? Here is what I always use; it’s my “Takeaway Coffee Principle!” It sounds a little strange I know, but shortly you will discover what customer service has in common with Starbucks!:

Have a Strong Customer Service Team

Customer support really does need to be strong. First of all you need to be trustworthy of course, but people have to have a good reason to believe in you, so you have to be very positive, understand what you’re talking about and your business and always do what you say you’re going to do when it comes to service and support. Here is a comment a client made recently about our customer support at Virtual Miss Friday:

“Thanks and I’m so excited to be working with your team again. You guys do such fantastic work and your customer service is wonderful.”

It’s important that clients remember your customer service and it’s not sufficient merely to perform your tasks correctly, as if you are to survive for the long-term, your customer service has to be the very best… and memorable.

Customer Service: Black and White

Customer service should be black and white. Don’t come up with difficult-to-understand clauses or complex jargon, just think Janet and John! Keep the responses simple, uncluttered and to the point. By all means go into details to make it clear, but it has to be couched in very simple terms and easy to remember and comprehend.

Be Warm, Be Helpful

You have to be friendly at all times when dealing with customer service, even in the worst situations when somebody is annoyed or angry. Stay impartial, always start with an opening greeting such as:

“I will definitely be happy to help you with this situation.”

Or perhaps…

“Thank you very much for your questions, let’s go through them one at a time.”

…and end with a closing statement such as:

“Hopefully, I’ve answered your questions, but if there is something else I can assist you with, please advise.”

Or perhaps…

“I hope this helps, if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

The Key to Great Customer Service – Be Fast!

Never take longer than 24 to 48 hours at the very most to answer anybody and bear in mind that the sooner you do this the better. You might be faced with a rather complex situation and need time to work it out, requesting assistance to do so, which is okay, but get in touch immediately anyway and tell the customer or client that you are seeking further guidance, never letting them wait without any contact, simply wondering if they will hear from you, at all. An autoresponder system is a good way of ensuring that your customer is informed that you know about the situation and will get back to them.

At the highest level of customer service, you must be consistent as a matter of priority in your virtual assistant business. Set your standards, create your templates – and hold to them, without fail. You will need to refine things over time, for sure and have to adapt to clients in your virtual assistant business as your relationships grow, but always keep the principles in the front of your mind and you will end up seeing a very positive outcome.

Customer Service Builds Trust

Great customer service is part of building trust and credibility with your customers.