Can great customer support increase sales? Without a doubt, support and sales are directly tied together. Business nowadays realizes that customer service is one of, if not the most important part of the customer journey.

Here are quick ways your business can increase sales by improving your customer service:

1. Make a fantastic first impression.
   Create a small script that all customer support representatives use to set the tone for the upcoming conversation. Not only does what they say matter but how they say it is just as ( if not more ) important. A great first impression not only goes a long way in creating loyalty for your brand, customers are less likely to post negative reviews if something goes wrong in the order process.

2. Shorten your companies response time.
   Even if you don’t have an answer for the customer, it’s important to know you’ve received their request and the team is actively working to provide them the best answer possible. I recently submitted a support request to zapier.com and within 5 minutes I had a personalized response back from one of their reps. Was it the answer to my question? No. But it clearly wasn’t a canned response either, and I felt reassured the rep was knowledgeable and actively working my ticket. Couple hours later, I got another email with my solution. Even if the answer they provided required a follow-up, they could have done no wrong in my eyes. The tone of our conversation had been set with their speedy initial response.A recent study by the Northridge Group found that 42% of consumers expect a response from companies on social media within an hour. Yes, an hour.
3.  Dump autoresponders and canned responses when possible.
   A customer isn’t stupid, so don’t treat them like they are. Value them and it will pay off. In 2011, an American Express survey found that 70 percent of customers are willing to spend 13 percent more on average with companies they believe provide exceptional customer service.Don’t value them, and they’ll leave. According to NewVoice Media, 44% of US consumers switch to a competitor following a poor customer service experience.

4. Cross-sell, cross-sell, cross-sell
   So what exactly is cross-selling? if a consumer is purchasing a coffee cup, the salesperson should be recommending the bag of ground coffee beans the store currently has on sale. This shouldn’t come off as a sales pitch, the rep is just giving helpful suggestions about some additional products they might like.
5.  Create an incentive for referrals and positive word-of-mouth
   Smart marketers now know the exact cost to acquire a customer. So why not create a discount or incentive for your customers to who refer you business via reviews or through social media. So how do you do this? A quick Google search will give a number of different companies that can assist you with this.

Conclusion

It’s hard to believe, but just doing these 5 simple things can have a dramatic impact on your bottom line. The days of treating customer service as an afterthought are over. If you didn’t get the memo, social media has given the consumer a very powerful voice and the sooner you embrace this the sooner your company will learn to use support to its advantage.