Customer service is one of the most critical functions of any business, especially now. If you don't show your customers that you hear them and support their needs, you risk losing credibility as a business. Upkeep of your online business has always been important but never more so than in 2020 when you can't be face-to-face with your customers. Customer service comes in many shapes and forms and has transformed over the years as technology progressed. It's critical to any business and can't be ignored, especially when operating an online business. So how can you make sure you're maintaining good customer service online?

Good customer service can often be the reason your customers choose to come back to you again and again. Consumers like to feel like they matter and are being well taken care of when choosing to give a company their business. Thirty-three percent of Americans reported that they would consider switching companies after just one poor customer service experience. That's a large portion of your customers that might not use your shop again if they don't feel heard or taken care of. Not only that, but it's hard to get those customers back, taking 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience. When online, your margin for error becomes much smaller than when operating face to face. If a customer isn't pleased with something, they can easily click to a different website to find what they need. This means you need to take each customers' question, complaint, or comment seriously and answer them in a timely manner.

Here are a few things you can do to help boost your online customer service:

Updating your website

Get into the mindset of your customers and think about what questions you would have for a florist or flower shop. Utilize the FAQ page on your website to answer the questions you come up with in a way that your customers can easily understand. Have a Contact Us page for any questions that your customers might have that aren't answered on the FAQ page or in the content on your website. Be sure to answer these inquiries as quickly as possible or in less than 48 hours.

Utilize Social Media

Social media is a fantastic tool to help you maintain phenomenal online customer service. In fact, it's changed the customer service game drastically. In a recent study, 1 in 3 customers preferred social media customer service over phone or email. This means that whether or not you use social media for your shop, customers are turning to social media for online help over any other outlet. Maintaining a highly interactive social media presence allows your customers to know that you are there and ready to help them. On average, customers spend 20 to 40% more with companies that engage with them on social media, meaning this small investment can have a tremendous return.

Answer Your Engagement

Engaging with your customers on social media doesn't necessarily mean that you need to sit and obsess about every little detail. However, it does mean that responding to comments and DMs in a timely manner is extremely important to your customer service's success. If you start to find that the same questions are being asked repeatedly, you may try answering these questions within the content of your posts or by creating an FAQ highlight on your Instagram profile so that customers can easily find the information they're looking for. Also, consider adding this question and its answer to your FAQ page on your website if it's not currently there. This will ensure that no matter the platform your customers use, they'll receive the same information.

There are many things you can do to help make your customer service excellent. Try doing some of the things above and see how they work for your shop!