How to Give Clients the Responsiveness They Deserve

Give Clients Responsiveness they deserve. Responsiveness is how people react to what is being said during communication. Responding appropriately is usually a natural ability, understanding what has been passed along, and either doing what was requested or providing feedback on what was shared. While this is done without much thought, there are times when just saying or doing what comes to mind can be harmful to a relationship, especially between clients and businesses. Here are some tips to apply to all communication to help make certain those possibly damaging issues don’t crop up in your business.

Be Prompt

Nobody likes having to wait for a reply or for an action to be taken. Returning information swiftly is critical to giving responsiveness the base it needs to maintain effective relationships. If someone is waiting for a callback, an email, a text or other format of communication then the faster those can be returned the better. It builds trust when a client knows they are put first, and long delays or failures to maintain deadlines is the fastest way to lose trust, and possibly lose the customer.

Be Careful About Assuming

Even though many businesses pride themselves on being able to predict what their clients will need, that doesn’t mean that anyone should be assuming what the client will say or specifically want. Assumptions can anger the client when it seems they are being pushed into a direction they don’t want to go in. Assumptions can also lead to a product being finished in ways that the client didn’t describe because a question wasn’t asked about how they wanted it. Before an action is taken, or before a client feels like they are being manipulated, it’s best to sit down with the client and ask about the details and give them the full time needed to respond so that they feel they are leading the conversation and the project.

Stop Interrupting

Interruptions are sometimes useful when a meeting or conversation has started to sway off topic, but in general breaking into someone else’s line of thought is angering. Before injecting an opinion or adding to the conversation, be sure that everyone else is done speaking, or done with whatever task they are in the middle of trying to complete. It likely won’t take much more than a few moments to add what needed to be said or done, so taking the time to ensure the timing is right can make a client feel calmer and more confident in how their concerns are being addressed.

Forget the Jargon When Talking with a Customer

Business jargon comes with any industry and can be even more obscure from one business within that industry to the next. Sometimes it’s difficult to separate the business vocabulary that’s instilled in a worker from their usual way of speaking, but it is critical to leave unfamiliar terms out of interactions with clients as much as possible. Jargon can confuse a client, especially if the words being used aren’t defined for their understanding. For the sake of clarity and efficient communication, keeping jargon out of the conversation can save a lot of work down the road.

Make Yourself Available

Reaching a customer service line that is attached to a robotic directory can be a nightmare for a prospective client. Likewise, only being reached out to by phone or text can make a client feel uneasy with the way their issues are being addressed. Whenever possible make certain that a real person is ready to grab incoming calls, and if a client requests a face-to-face meeting, then try to make it happen as quickly as possible. Scheduling can be tough, but fitting in time to truly talk with a client will show how serious a business is about keeping them as a customer.

Beware of Your Online Presence

In this day and age, everyone is leaning on social media to find and make contact with businesses first. Having incorrect information on Facebook, or posting unrelated content, can give the impression that the business is unprofessional. It’s important to be involved in the social media realm so that customers can be given easier access but remembering that is one of the faces of the business can keep issues from dissuading prospective clients away. Another aspect of social media is that it can give clients a public way to air grievances, so taking care to watch for complaints online will allow the business to address them before they become larger problems while allowing other clients to see that if an issue comes up, it will be dealt with appropriately.

Any business that is seeking out new customers, or that just wants to keep the customers they already have, needs to be responsive in the right ways. It’s too easy to lose a customer due to a simple communication issue.  Using virtual phone lines can assist in keeping your business connected to your customers. Focus on how their needs can be addressed, provide the best customer service around and ensure your business keeps everything looking professional to keep the business expanding in the right directions.