You’ve started your own freelancing business and now it’s time to build a client base. You’re excited to have the freedom that comes with running your own schedule, making your own decisions, and being your own boss but you know it won’t always be easy.
Not only will you need to find clients (and convince them to work with you), but once they do sign up, there’s the matter of keeping them around. Providing customer service is an important part of maintaining good client relationships, but if you don’t take the right approach, things can quickly go south no matter how great your product or service is.
Many businesses face a common problem. They approach customers in the same way when they are on the other end of a different chat session with someone who doesn’t represent their brand. It’s high time we got to the bottom of how you can effectively provide support while remaining friendly and helpful while answering questions at an efficient pace.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Effective communication: Maintain clear and prompt communication with clients to address their support needs efficiently. |
| 2. Active listening: Listen attentively to understand customer concerns and provide relevant solutions. |
| 3. Documentation: Keep detailed records of customer interactions and issues to track progress and ensure resolution. |
| 4. Time management: Prioritize tasks and allocate sufficient time for each customer support request to avoid delays. |
| 5. Continuous learning: Stay updated with industry trends and customer support best practices to enhance problem-solving skills. |
1. Welcome The Customer
Use their name; Welcoming the customer by name is a small gesture that can have a big impact on your customer support conversation. It immediately gives the customer a warm feeling, as if you care about them as an individual rather than just another customer who called in to complain. According to research from Dr. James Henson, using the person’s name makes them feel seen and valued, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for everyone involved.
Make it positive; Rather than asking, “How can I help you?” ask something like, “What do you need help with today?” The latter question has a more positive connotation: you are assuming that they need assistance rather than expecting that they might not need it at all (or worse: are calling just to complain). This makes them feel like they’re being heard and taken seriously.
Building a successful freelance career in customer service requires finding the right job opportunities. Check out our guide on the 14 best freelance jobs for customer service specialists to discover exciting options that align with your skills and interests.
2. Show The Customer The Knowledge Base
A well-written and organized knowledge base is an invaluable tool for both customers and support agents alike.
- It’s a one-stop-shop for any information the customer could need to solve their problem on their own, saving you the trouble of having to assist them directly.
- It’s also a place where your support staff can go when they are trying to solve more complex issues that require extensive research! Consider this scenario:
- A customer has a question about how to set up a widget on their website. You check the knowledge base and find that this is already covered in detail, so you simply send them a link to the appropriate solution article. The customer reads through it, finds what they’re looking for, and sets up the widget with minimal difficulty (and doesn’t have to wait for another agent to assist them). Case closed!
3. Offer A Feeling Of Security To Them
When you’re selling a product or service, especially as a freelancer, it’s important to ensure that your customers feel secure. When they feel secure, they are more willing to buy from you and less likely to change their mind. They are also more likely to continue buying from you in the future.
You can offer a guarantee or refund if your customer is not satisfied with what you have offered them. This gives them a sense of security, knowing that, if they are not happy with your work, they will at least be able to get some of their money back.
Are you looking to earn a steady income as a freelance customer service representative? Learn how to get freelance customer service jobs to pay the bills by leveraging your skills, networking, and optimizing your online presence.
4. Communicate Quickly And Politely
When you’re dealing with a client and an issue that needs to be resolved, there are a few things you can keep in mind to ensure the most positive outcome.
Communicate quickly and politely. First and foremost, customer support is about the customer. Avoid taking up more of your client’s time than necessary by communicating promptly and in a polite manner.
If you need more information or some follow-up on their end before sending your product or service, let them know exactly what they need to do without wasting any of their time. You can increase the urgency by letting them know how long it will take before they get what they want, which will let them know exactly how much time they have to respond so they don’t miss out on that offer or promotion.
Apologize for the inconvenience if necessary. Sometimes our clients will see something different than we intended or simply misread something, resulting in an unnecessary support ticket for you to handle. While this may be frustrating for you as a busy freelancer, remember that customer service is about the customer: their time is valuable and should be respected regardless of the situation at hand.
When responding to inquiries from clients who have made mistakes with their purchase like buying something accidentally when meant to buy something else reply with empathy and apologize for any inconvenience caused from your end (even if it was unintentional). This will go a long way towards retaining them as future customers who know what kind of business you’re running even when things don’t go perfectly smoothly!
Use positive language throughout your communication with clients whenever possible because negativity breeds negativity and people respond better when treated well! For example: if someone asks how long until an order ship out “in 5 days” instead suits his mood just fine.”
Using these tips as guidelines can help make sure your emails don’t suck! Recently I’ve been using an email template I created myself; feel free to copy/paste from here if interested 🙂
5. Be Transparent With Customers
Being transparent doesn’t mean underselling your services or telling customers what you think they want to hear. Don’t try to be a hero and take on more than you can handle just to win over a client. Instead, it means being honest about what you can do and how long it will take. And if something changes, let them know immediately so the expectations are clear from both sides.
One of the biggest benefits of transparency is that clients trust you more. When your clients know that you will keep them in the loop if anything changes, they won’t feel like you are trying to hide something from them or surprise them with unexpected costs.
In turn, this builds loyalty by creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and collaboration between freelancer and client, and when your customer trusts you enough to come back for more work, that’s a great way to grow your business!
6. Provide A Detailed Explanation Of The Issue To Customers
This is where you’ll need to exercise your creative writing skills because this isn’t just about explaining what the problem is. When customers are frustrated, they want to know that you understand why they’re upset so it has to be worded in a way that not only solves their issue but lets them know that you get it.
It’s important to explain how you can help them solve their problems in a way that’s easy for them to understand and stress-free on their end. Respond quickly with an answer that shows effort was put into providing context and understanding of their situation, and clearly shows results from your solution(s).
Freelance customer service jobs offer numerous advantages that make them highly attractive. Explore our article on 15 reasons why freelance customer service jobs are so attractive to understand the flexibility, growth potential, and work-life balance they can provide.
7. Offer Affected Customers Compensation For Bad Products Or Services
- Offer a discount
If you’ve been promising customers a certain product or service but haven’t delivered, offering them a discount is a decent way to show that you still want their business. Consider putting together an offer for the product or service in question and email it to customers who were affected by your mistake.
- Give away services for free
This strategy works similarly to offering discounts, except instead of giving them money off, you give the product or service in question away for free. This could be done through coupons via email or social media.
Think of it as a digital gift card without any monetary value. Customers can come into your shop (or have it delivered) and redeem their coupon like usual. Of course, this approach isn’t as effective as just giving them what they ordered since they’ll have to make the extra effort of going out and picking it up but if your budget doesn’t allow for complete refunds, this option is at least something.
- Pick up the tab on shipping costs either way (whether they return the items or not)
If part of your customer support issue is dealing with returns on defective products (or products that were sent late), consider picking up the tab on shipping costs either way (whether they return the items or not).
You can do this through an email blast where you send affected customers a personalized code that covers all shipping fees when used within a certain time frame. This shows your company cares about making things right and provides much-needed relief from unreasonable charges caused by their mistake. Note: When sending out emails like these, make sure to thoroughly think through every detail beforehand so there are no errors in communication!
Excelling as a freelance customer service representative requires adopting effective strategies. Discover 12 secrets to success as a freelance customer service rep that will help you enhance your communication skills, build strong client relationships, and achieve professional growth.
8. Most Customers Don’t Want To Talk To Your Bot, They Want To Talk To A Real Person
Although the use of a chatbot is undoubtedly helpful, it’s still not exactly what customers have in mind when they reach out to customer support. The reason for this is simple: we’re social creatures. We don’t like to be left alone, and with so many questions about our products or services, that’s exactly what happens when you only provide a chatbot as an option for your customers.
People want to know that your company cares about them like a good friend who can help solve any problem, answer any question, and do it quickly. In fact, the majority of customers prefer answering their questions from another person vs. waiting for an automated response from a bot.
It may seem counterintuitive at first glance why would I want to pay someone to answer support inquiries? But by doing so you’re actually saving money while also improving your overall customer satisfaction!
To streamline your freelance customer service workflow and enhance your productivity, you need the right tools and services. Explore our curated list of the best tools, apps, and services for freelance customer service to find resources that can automate tasks, organize communication, and optimize your work processes.
Wrapping Up
So, whether you’re a freelancer who’s looking to improve your customer support skills, or you’re just getting started, hopefully, this article has provided some useful insights into how to do things better.
One last takeaway: don’t be afraid of taking risks and making mistakes as you figure out what works for you. In the end, though, it’s all about helping your customers get their issues resolved. Keeping that in mind makes everything a whole lot easier and more fun.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to explore for further insights into the challenges faced by freelancers and tips to overcome them:
5 Problems Freelancers Face and 5 Tips to Overcome: Discover common obstacles encountered by freelancers and learn practical strategies to overcome them, from managing time effectively to finding a work-life balance.
6 Common Client Problems Faced by PR Freelancers (and How to Fix Them): Gain valuable insights into the typical challenges encountered by PR freelancers when working with clients and explore effective solutions to enhance client relationships and project success.
Common Challenges Freelancers Face and How to Overcome Them: Dive into a comprehensive guide that highlights various common challenges faced by freelancers and provides practical tips and strategies to overcome them, such as dealing with irregular income and managing multiple clients.
People Also Ask
What Is Customer Support?
Customer support can mean everything from interacting with a customer on social media to answering their questions about their product or service. Customer support agents usually work for companies in the form of call centers, where they take many calls from customers and do their best to help them with whatever problem they are having.
What Is Customer Service?
Customer service is an umbrella term that includes both customer support and any other interaction between a company and its customers, including sales. People who work in customer service can be called “customer relations specialists.” They may not answer as many questions as those in customer support, but they are still trained to interact with customers and solve their problems.
What Are The Key Skills Of A Customer Support Agent?
The key skills required to be successful as a customer support agent include patience, knowledge of the company’s products or services, empathy and compassion, good communication skills (both speaking and writing), listening skills, adaptability, problem-solving abilities, computer literacy (including typing speed), time management ability, a calm demeanor under high-stress situations such as angry calls from customers.
What’s The Best Way To Approach Customers?
Hey there! Our best advice is to just be as upfront and kind as possible. You want to make sure that your clients know exactly what they’re getting, and we think that the best way to do that is by being open and honest with them. If you don’t have a lot of experience, we recommend trying to keep your prices low and making sure you get lots of great feedback. That way you can build up your profile and increase your prices down the road.
How Do I Resolve Disputes With Customers?
Disputes happen! The important thing is to figure out how to resolve them quickly and respectfully. That might look like working on a compromise or helping your client understand why you’re charging them more, but it could also mean refunding all or part of their payment.
Ultimately, the goal of supporting our freelancers is that they succeed, so we hope that disputes are resolved in a way that benefits everyone involved, freelancer, client, and [company name].
How Do I Handle Negative Feedback?
We get it. You’ve been working hard and you think you’ve done a great job, but your client doesn’t agree. It’s frustrating and upsetting, and you’re probably feeling like screaming “GIVE ME MY MONEY” at the top of your lungs.
But the truth is that negative feedback can be a wonderful thing. It can show us where we need to improve, give us more insight into what our clients are looking for, and help us position ourselves as experts in our industries. But it’s easy for all of that to feel secondary when you’re in the heat of the moment and your client is giving you a hard time.
First thing’s first: breath. Then, take a step back (this goes for all types of customer support problems). Put yourself in your client’s shoes, and acknowledge that they’re coming from a place of frustration or confusion while they’re talking to you.
And then? Don’t take it personally! Remember that this is business and also remember that even if you do feel personally attacked when your client starts talking trash about your work, getting defensive or angry is not going to help anyone or anything. Instead, listen carefully to their feedback (remembering not to take it personally) and then respond calmly.
What’s The Best Way To Keep Track Of Customer Support Issues?
Use a task management tool like Trello or Asana. Trello is free, while Asana starts at $10 per month. Both include mobile apps, so you can work on your customer support issues from wherever you are.
How Can I Automate My Customer Support?
There are many tools that can help you do this like Zendesk, which offers a free trial and starts at $5 per month. You can also use Slack as a lightweight CS tool for your team by creating a channel for every specific task or issue that comes up.
What’s The Best Way To Get Info About My Customers?
Gather data through your website or app, and collect email addresses and other contact information whenever possible. This is a great way to track how often customers are reaching out with questions and concerns, as well as basic demographics about them (age, location, etc.).
How Do I Keep Track Of My Time?
There are many different time tracking apps out there. Some of these are Toggl and Clockify. There is also an app called Everhour that will let you track the time spent on each task within your project management software. This way all of your information is in one place.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.