- Welcome to The Journey.
Today we're gonna talk about
ten customer service rules
for web professionals.
All right, we're talking
about ten customer service rules.
But why rules?
- Why?
Why all the rules?
Nobody likes rules, right?
Especially Emma over here.
- What? - That rebel without a cause.
But our rules are here
to really help you
with your business and help you grow.
'Cause not every web professional follows these rules
and if you do, you really set yourself apart.
Alright, so rule number one and that is
to respond to your customer's emails
within twenty-four hours.
Now, Emma why do you think that is just so important
for these web professionals?
- Yeah, because it is a indication
of your customer service.
The longer you make that customer wait,
the longer their problem is not resolved.
- And the longer that they're thinking
about leaving you and going to someone else.
- Yeah, and you know what you can do too,
'cause I know when you hear
that "twenty-four hours I need to respond."
I'm doing a million things. - Right.
A great remedy is to have a reply email
that automatically sends out
to your customers when they email you.
Just letting them know like,
"Hey, we're in the process of helping you out."
- Yeah, and I used to freelance and do
all these things and my clients expected something
almost immediately.
And some of those tasks, it'd take,
it took a lot longer
than the twenty-four hours to resolve.
So, giving them that little bit of follow-up
of "hey, I've heard you.
"I've got your request.
"It's on my mind.
"I haven't forgot about you."
goes just a tremendously long way.
- All right, Nealey.
So, this is like the perfect segue
into customer service rule number two.
Update.
Update that customer on where you're at
with the project.
Where the status is.
So they just know and can expect
how long until they get
that resolved or their questions answered.
- Yeah, and it's super important.
I know a lot of graphic designers or web designers
or just a lot of project management people use tools
like Trello or Asana to kind of keep track
of where they're at with that project.
I know a lot of them actually have that visible
to the client and their customers so
that way they can see where they're at
on the journey and they can add
their comments and questions or
just post just those general updates.
'Cause they want to know
that you're actually working
on it and you're top of mind.
- That actually reminds me.
I recently ordered a few bathing suits
from this new company.
California based brand.
And I was really nervous
about when they would arrive 'cause I needed it
just in time for this pool party I was going to.
And what made me feel at ease was the update.
At any time I could see where my order was.
Even down to where the truck was gonna drop it off
at which FedEx that I could pick them up.
So it put me at ease
that hey, I'm gonna get this bathing suit in time
for this beach goth party, which hence the nails.
- And yeah, you can reverse engineer
that with your own business.
Have your own shipping tracker, but
for your projects or your updates or whatever
that looks like for you.
Alright.
Number three.
And it's all about email again, right?
So specify next steps
that your customer or client has to take.
Don't put it in the middle of your giant paragraph.
Break these up.
What I like to do when communicating
with clients is, I'll have just the general info
and everything we're talking
about and then, kind of at the very end so
that they actually look at it, right?
"Things I need from you."
- Bold. And it's very bulleted.
Bold, right.
We don't want that to be missed.
So just have those next steps, those actions
that they have to take, so they're not forgotten.
'Cause you don't want to be a week or two later and
be like "Hey, I sent you that email.
"Where you at?
"Like I need that stuff to move forward."
And they go, "what are you talking about?"
- Whoops.
- Yeah, you're not gonna have a good time.
So make sure you have
those next steps bold, super clear,
and not in the middle, sandwiched somewhere.
- Alright
Number four.
The shorter the email, the better.
And it's more likely
that the customer or the client is
actually gonna read it in its entirety.
And also, keep in mind subject lines.
What's gonna get that customer
to open your email in the first place?
- Right, and go ahead and look
at your Inbox right now and see.
Kinda look at some of the emails that you've received.
Which ones are ones
that you'd actually look
at, like clear? - Yeah
Or which ones would you skim and pass over?
Mirror those ones that are those good examples
in your box.
Like, "Okay cool, they have headlines
to their email, paragraphs are short and sweet.
"They may even have some images or links
"that I have to click on."
Keep it that short and sweet
and make it easy
for your client to take those next steps.
Customer service rule number five,
and it's one that I'm guilty of literally every day.
It's not to answer emails or calls when you're
just not in a good place to take them, right.
If you're with your family or
at a baseball game or skate boarding and you get a call
from a client or from someone you work
with and you're first instinct is
to answer that phone call.
It's sometimes just not a good idea.
I don't have the most intelligent responses
when I'm not in work mode.
I have to be in work mode
to actually get good stuff done, right.
- But also, goes back to what we spend a lot
of time talking about, work life balance.
When you're at that, your kid's baseball game,
be in your kid's baseball game.
And when you're deciding,
"Hey, I am done with work for the day,"
be done with work for the day.
It'll actually help you
to have a longer career and also business
without getting burnt out, right.
So, definitely keep it separated.
And like Nealey said, you want to be
in the right head space when answering that call.
And it might be very well tempting to just take it.
"Oh, I'm driving between point A and point B.
"I see a client is calling.
"I'll just take it right now."
But you might not be in the best head space
to handle that call in a professional manner.
- Now, one thing that's really been helping me
out a lot lately, is I have our smart line app.
Where I have that second phone number.
So, I have my office hours. - One phone, two numbers.
Right, office hours so I'll get calls
from X time to X time.
When it's not that time,
it goes straight to voicemail.
It's really helped me to make sure I don't answer
those phone calls. - Smart.
- So, Smart Line has it.
I know Google has a smart line type phone offering.
So, if you have a second line and they have
those office hours, that might be a good idea too.
- Customer service rule number six.
Do not respond to angry emails.
When you think about responding.
Yeah, don't be Nealey.
Honestly what helps me a lot and even
in your personal life, if you're feeling a
little disgruntled about something.
Write it out.
Make a draft.
And then, walk away.
Go do something else for a little while.
- Don't press send.
Yeah.
Give it some time to air out.
Let it breathe.
Keep the Zen, but don't respond right away
to an angry email.
- And I know, you're thinking back,
like aw you have that one client, that one customer
that just sent you that email pretty recently.
How did you respond?
Did you give it that second or did you just fire
off that quick email that you probably shouldn't have?
- Alright, so.
Rule number seven.
And that's to offer some type
of ongoing support or maintenance
for your clients or customers.
Now, if you build websites, you can offer
like a website maintenance plan
where you update plug-ins.
Do just random service requests.
If you're a graphic designer, maybe adjust logos.
Create brand content.
Social media.
Whatever that looks like.
Because most of the time, if we don't do
that, that's just one client.
One and done.
We offer that ongoing maintenance.
That's a client forever.
You're getting that reoccurring revenue.
Helping grow your business.
And, we all like business, right?
We all like making money.
- Alright, that brings us
to customer service rule number eight.
Which is, have the ability
for your customers to schedule a call with you.
Don't rely solely on e-mail.
And, I know I get e-mails sometimes and it's hard
to know the tone and how is
that person really feeling. - Is he yelling at me?
- Yeah, I don't know. - Are we friends?
Are we not friends? - Are they upset?
- Did you just unfriend me? - I can't tell.
So, avoid that confusion and have that ability.
There's some online scheduling opportunities
out there as well.
So, it makes it really easy for the customer
to schedule in your calendar.
Give you a little fifteen minute call here.
Ten minutes, whatever you need.
I like a good thirty minute call.
We really hash things out.
But again, you don't wanna just rely
on email for this.
So, boost that customer service
and give your customers the ability
to schedule a call with you.
- And a pro tip.
I know your time is so, so, so valuable.
If you want to make
that scheduled call a premium service, you have
every right to do that.
So, is a fifteen or thirty minute conversation
cost money or is it free.
It's up to you to decide, but it's a potential way
to increase your dollar, dollar bills.
Alright, customer service rule number nine.
And that is to take the blow from the blame.
I know you'll end up getting that angry email.
They'll say you were wrong.
You did this.
You did that.
And what we don't want to do is, one going back
to that rule is, fire off that angry email.
And we don't want to place the blame on them or
just fire back and escalate this, right.
You wanna try to diffuse the situation.
You don't have to say, I'm sorry.
You can say I'm sorry for the situation.
Let me do my best to figure this out
for you and try to figure out that way forward.
'Cause I know they're venting.
They're angry, but they want a solution.
And they also wanna be heard.
So, let them know "Hey, I know what you're feeling.
"I'm sorry this has happened.
"I'm sorry for the situation.
"Let's figure out a game plan.
"Let's get this fixed."
- Alright, Nealey.
Love that last rule, but now we are here
for rule number ten.
Which is educate your customers.
- Edumecate them.
- And think about it.
They'll love you for it.
You're gonna bring value to the table.
I know, I love it when I follow a lot
of my favorite, local businesses on social media.
And actually this came up recently
with the hotter temps in Southern California.
I live in San Diego.
And, well, it's getting warm everywhere, but the point is.
- Wait, wait.
I'm in Phoenix.
- Oh, sorry. - What is hotter temps?
(laughs)
- True.
- I don't know
how you survive. - It's like 112 right now.
- Forget that.
Alright, I'll stick to my low seventies.
But the point is, it's heating up all
across the US and I noticed
some local auto repair shops
on their social media pages and
then their email newsletters.
They were giving tips about like,
"Hey, with the warmer temps,
"be mindful of X, Y, and Z
"with your car maintenance."
And, that was super rad 'cause it was
like, ya know, I just don't think
about that stuff naturally.
I'm like "Oh, yeah. I should probably pay attention
"to that about my car."
So. - Did they give you tips
on baking cookies in your car?
- No.
Is that an Arizona thing?
- You can do it in Arizona.
- That is why I don't live there.
(laughs)
So, think about it.
What do you know?
You know a ton.
You're an expert in your field.
What do you know that you think your customers
would want to know?
Or maybe they need a friendly reminder of.
- Yeah, absolutely.
And those can be, just videos
that you've already created.
It could be quick calls.
It can be email, but you wanna make
sure you educate them early
on and set the expectation that you're here
for them, not only to provide your service, but
that ongoing edumacation.
Alright, well that was my favorite rule.
What was yours?
Go ahead and leave us a comment below
with your favorite rule and while you're
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We'll see you next time.