Following up is important, yet is often overlooked. It is human nature to assume that no news is good news, and if we haven’t heard anything then everything is OK. However, this can be a wrong assumption, especially in a customer service setting.
Say a customer called about a problem. Your company worked to resolve it. The customer seemed satisfied. But the problem was not really fixed. The customer might contact the company again–or — he/she could make a decision to go elsewhere. If your company does not follow up, you will be assuming that everything is OK when in fact you may have lost a customer.
In order to be sure your customer is fully satisfied, institute a follow-up policy. You should think about your timing–closer to the time of first contact is better. Waiting too long may send the message that you don’t actually care. How to contact your customer? That will depend on the problem and the size of your customer base. Clearly, if you have hundreds of customers, you may want to send a short email. If you have a handful of customers, it would be best to call. Your follow up can be short and to the point:
We are following up with regarding your recent contact with our company. Was the issue resolved to your liking? Please contact us if there is anything further we can help you with.
(Be certain to provide email addresses/phone numbers)
By following up with a customer you are demonstrating real interest and concern. The key is to be real, and not just formulaic. Sending out follow up notes just because will also cause your customers to look elsewhere.
Tags: following up in customer service, importance of follow up