How to Keep Customers Happy During Ops Management Challenges
Few things can be as complex and palm-to-face emoji-level frustrating for an e-comm business owner as ops management.
We've all been there, right?
Maybe you have to deal with an unexpected shipping delay (more like a few) or your busiest season coincides with a major holiday – and suddenly, your carefully managed customer relationships are in chaos.
An essential business skill every business owner needs to master is proactively managing customer relationships – especially during ops management crises.
Even when situations are outside your control, there are still steps you can take to ensure your customers are happy, loyal, and equally as excited about receiving their product as the day they ordered it.
It's been a hella year, to say the least – from USPS shipping delays to internal staffing struggles – so don't let customer relationship anxiety be another source of stress.
In this blog post, I'll give you some best practices for keeping your customers happy during the most challenging of times. Having clear procedures in place will make all the difference (for your customers and your sanity)!
Today's Ops Management Challenges
Doing business right now may feel like trying to hit a moving target at one of those trendy ax-throwing spots. From competition to technology, the obstacles are ever-changing.
One thing that remains constant? Customer expectations.
Today's customers are more global, more educated, and more informed than ever before – and they expect nothing less than excellent service when navigating your site or placing an order.
Pandemic-Related Obstacles
The COVID-19 pandemic seems never-ending, and for businesses, that means continued challenges with staffing, shipping, and more.
Customers understand that these disruptions are out of your control, but they still expect you to provide the best possible service.
Consider just a few of today's ops management challenges:
1. Supply Chain Issues
Supply chain problems extending from source to delivery are a byproduct of the pandemic. If you’ve searched “shipping delays USPS,” you’ve likely seen that the postal service slowed down delivery beginning October 1. Increased shipping prices and congestion at multiple ports of entry are also adding to the supply chain challenges.
In a world that has grown accustomed to Amazon's two-day shipping, any delay means your customers will be waiting. For e-commerce logistics, this can be a significant ops management issue.
2. Staffing Shortages
As the pandemic continues to impact, staffing shortages are a constant struggle. The resulting productivity and inventory ops management challenges can really put a kink in your otherwise perfectly planned customer service strategy.
3. Data Privacy Concerns
Customers are growing increasingly skeptical about how and with whom they share their data. Addressing data privacy concerns head-on is key to maintaining trust.
4. The Holiday Surge
The holiday season is a time of joy for many, but for e-commerce logistics, it can be a nightmare. Staffing and order volumes are higher than ever, making delays even more likely.
While you can't always prevent these situations, having a response plan is critical for success.
So, how do you keep customers happy during ops management challenges like these? With outstanding customer relationship management systems!
What Is Customer Relationship Management?
Simply put, customer relationship management (or CRM) is a process (and software) for managing and organizing customer data, interactions, and customer communications.
As a business owner, you want to do everything right to create strong customer relationships. There are numerous benefits to strategically managing customer relationships, including:
Increased customer loyalty and advocacy
Higher customer lifetime value
More repeat business
Reduced marketing costs
Less need for new customer acquisition
Better insight into customer needs and preferences
Improved customer service and support
When Customer Relationships Meet Ops Management
To keep your customers happy during challenging times, it's crucial to have customer relationship management systems in place that are integrated with your ops management plan.
Sounds great, but what exactly does that mean?
It means having systems to collect and manage customer data, respond to customer inquiries, and resolve complaints, as well as having clear policies in place for how you’ll handle customer relationships during challenging times like the holiday season, the pandemic crisis, or other significant disruptions. Here are a few best practices:
1. Be an Automated Systems Boss for Collecting and Managing Customer Data
The foundation of successful customer relationships begins with your ability to collect and retain customer data. Without this data, you're flying blind. Klayvio and Shopify are two popular e-commerce tools that provide real-time analytics. Whether you’re just getting started or have years-worth of data, it’s important to solidify best practices that analyze customer orders and shopping behavior.
No matter which platforms you use, make sure your CRM software can collect data from all customer touchpoints, including your:
Website
Social media
Digital marketing
Phone calls
Customer communications via email
You should also have a process for regularly cleaning and updating your customer data. Old or irrelevant data can lead to inaccurate insights and poor decision-making.
2. Make It Easy for Customers to Contact You
Make sure you have a system in place that makes it easy for customers to contact you.
Your website should have a contact form and prominently display your phone number. You may also want to consider setting up a social media customer service account.
3. Be a Champion At Response Time
To keep your customers happy, you need to respond quickly.
The data doesn’t lie – Microsoft recently found that 90% of customers surveyed base their patronage on customer service, and 58% were ready to jump ship if response times were slow!
If you know there is a 24–48-hour turnaround time for customer service inquiries, set that expectation upfront. Use an automated out-of-office message to share your response time along with a link to your top FAQs. Customers will appreciate the transparency and may even find an immediate answer.
4. Hire and Train All Staff to Be Customer-Centric
Hiring and training is crucial when your staff is faced with ops management challenges. At the minimum, everyone who interacts with customers should be familiar with your customer relationship policies. However, beyond just knowing the policies, they must embody the tone or personality you want your brand to be known for. At the end of the day, they’re the final touchpoint with your customers, and if it’s not a pleasant experience, they’ll probably never come back.
5. Ensure Your Ops Management Plan Evolves to Meets Your Customers’ Needs
Customers don't just expect you to respond lightning-fast when there’s a problem: They also want to know you've taken steps to ensure the issue doesn't happen again.
The best ops management plans are ones that evolve with the company and with the needs of the customer.
Your Ops Management Secret Weapon: Create SOPs
Standard operating procedures (or SOPs) are critical for any business, but they're essential when you have to go above and beyond for your customers.
SOPs are step-by-step instructions for performing a particular task. When you create SOPs, you ensure that everyone handles a situation the same way, no matter who’s doing it.
The benefits of combining standard operating procedures with your ops management practices include:
● Increased efficiency
● Reduced risk of errors or accidents
● Improved employee engagement and morale
● Reduced training costs for new employees
● Enhanced ability to monitor compliance with company policies
● A better understanding of how your ops management team operates
Does Your Ops Management Approach Give You a Competitive Edge?
As always, customer experience will influence your success as an e-commerce seller. You need to ensure you meet your customers’ expectations, going above and beyond with innovative new solutions to retain them as customers.
Enhancing your customer service policies with ops management strategies will be the key to your success. Sounds like something you need?
At Virtual Sidekic, we believe that passionate female DTC and e-comm business owners should have the tools they need to succeed. When the logistics struggles are real, we want you to welcome them with confidence, knowing your business is already set up to overcome them.
Are you looking for a way to take your customer service to the next level? Then sit back, relax, and watch us set your systems up for success! Let’s get started.