Comprehensive Guide to Cross-Border E-Commerce Customer Service: Improving Communication Skills and Service Awareness
Communication skills
Comprehensive answers to customer questions
When facing questions from customers, your answers must be comprehensive. A comprehensive answer does not mean to be eloquent, but to provide comprehensive answers to the customer’s questions, especially the key questions. For example, in cross-border e-commerce, logistics has always been a concern for buyers. Customer service should inform buyers of logistics information in detail.
Use emoticons
In online communication where each other cannot see each other, emoticons have become an indispensable way to express politeness. Being good at using emoticons is an important weapon.
Promote repeat transactions
Cross-border e-commerce customer service staff can facilitate the completion of wholesale orders for potential wholesale customers through communication and communication, and at the same time help scattered customers to transact with the store again. Customer service staff cooperate with marketing staff and skillfully use mass email tools to form a “customer club” system. Through effective and sophisticated mass marketing emails, on the one hand, customers’ stickiness can be enhanced, and on the other hand, customers can be motivated through the issuance of coupons. Participate in various promotional activities of the store to encourage them to return to the store and place orders again.
Competencies that customer service should have
Professional skills of traditional foreign trade
Must master the basic theoretical knowledge and basic skills of international trade, and be familiar with my country’s foreign trade policies and theories, international foreign trade rules and practices, import and export transaction procedures and contract terms, international contracting and labor cooperation, etc.
Understanding of product supply chain
As an online customer service, you should have a very familiar understanding of your own products. Only with a full understanding of the product can you perform the basic functions of an online customer service.
Familiarity with cross-border e-commerce platforms
The online customer service of cross-border e-commerce should be very familiar with the entire process of cross-border e-commerce, such as logistics, customs clearance in various countries, etc.
Language ability
Should have high foreign language skills, that is, be able to use foreign languages to communicate with foreign businessmen in a timely and effective manner, including written communication (correspondence) and oral expression (speaking, negotiation) abilities.
Understanding of consumers in destination countries
You should understand the customs and customs of the destination consumer country. Only by understanding the preferences and needs of people in different countries can we select products for different countries, set up product details pages, and launch corresponding marketing strategies.
Get to know cross-border e-commerce customer service
Cross-border e-commerce customer service personnel and customers transmit information through the Internet, and the interaction between the two parties is achieved through the communication of text and pictures. Cross-border e-commerce customer service is not as timely as physical stores or even domestic e-commerce customer service, but the essence is the same, which is to provide a series of services to meet customer needs.
Excellent customer service quality is a manifestation of the competitiveness of cross-border e-commerce companies
Excellent customer service quality is also one of the competitive advantages that consolidates its position in overseas markets.
Good customer service can improve customers’ purchasing experience
Customers purchase products through cross-border e-commerce platforms and expect to obtain not only value-for-money products but also satisfactory service experiences through this platform.
The impact of customer service on transaction volume and store image
The impact of customer service on trading volume
The level of customer service becomes the decisive factor in whether a customer makes a transaction. The customer’s need for consultation means that the customer already has the desire to shop, but still has some doubts, and hopes that customer service personnel can help solve these problems. If they can get a satisfactory answer, more than 90% of customers will choose to place an order.
The impact of customer service on store image
In the process of communicating with customers, customer service staff can also convey brand information through clever language and text, helping customers understand the store’s positioning and image, and gradually forming a clear understanding in customers’ minds.
The normal state of customer service
As a type of business negotiation, cross-border e-commerce customer service work needs to take “guiding customers’ emotions” as an important principle and skill from the beginning. Most customer emails or messages that contact sellers appear after the sale. Usually, when customers initiate contact after sales, it is often because there is a problem with the product they purchased, or there are obstacles in the completion of the order itself.
Understanding of responsibility and mistakes
In negotiations, simply admitting mistakes and directly proposing solutions such as refunds and resends will often make customers feel that the seller is not professional enough. “Responsibility” is the solution to the problem, which means that in order to solve the problem, one party has the courage to “take responsibility” and take certain measures or propose certain plans to solve the problem.
Seeking diverse communication methods
In response to these problems, seeking some diversified communication methods will often achieve better results. For example, make an “installation flow chart” or shoot a simple “usage demonstration video” and put these materials in cyberspace and pass them to customers.
Customer service position responsibilities definition and recruitment
Definition of customer service job responsibilities
As for the job responsibilities of customer service, each cross-border e-commerce company can define it according to its own actual development situation.
Customer service position recruitment
There is a large gap in cross-border e-commerce customer service positions and frequent personnel turnover. However, as a cross-border transaction realized through the Internet, the most critical of all customer experience indicators is the customer service link.
Improve response speed
Use ERP system for automatic reply
Not every cross-border e-commerce platform has automatic reply function settings. Therefore, in many cases, it is necessary to use the ERP system commonly used by cross-border sellers to perform automatic replies to improve customer service response speed.
Proficient in using shortcut keys
Using Sogou shortcut key input method settings will greatly improve the work efficiency of customer service personnel, especially when the number of consultations is large, the effect is more significant.
Commonly used templates
Inform customers of promotions
Dear Customer:
Thank you for your message. If you purchase two XXX items, we can provide you with a XX% discount. Once we confirm your payment, we will ship the goods promptly.
Out of stock explanation, asking for understanding
Dear Customer:
I’m really sorry. The product you ordered is currently out of stock. I will contact the factory to see when it can be replenished and will inform you at any time.
Reply for unpaid orders
Dear Customer:
We have received your order XXXX, but it seems that you have not paid. If I can provide any assistance with price, size, etc., please feel free to contact me. After payment is confirmed, I will process the order and arrange shipping as soon as possible.
Response to customer price negotiation
Dear Customer:
Thank you for your interest in our products, but we are sorry that we cannot offer you a lower negotiated price. In fact, our prices are carefully calculated and reasonable, and our profits are already very limited. But if you purchase more than XX USD in one order, we can give you a coupon worth XX USD.
Improve service awareness
Serve customers proactively
Today, when the experience economy has received widespread attention, online customers pay more attention to the proactive service awareness of customer service personnel than ever before.
Flexibly change ideas and improve pre-sales experience
Customers’ expectations for service often change, and the concept of customer service, which is the job previously defined by network customer service personnel, also needs to change accordingly.
Handling product quality disputes
After receiving a dispute, customer service staff will first check the cause of the dispute, then collect details based on the cause of the dispute, and finally decide whether to reject the dispute or accept it.
Handling disputes over short packaging of goods
Similar to handling product quality issues, after customer service staff receive a customer complaint, the first step is to ask the customer for a certificate of short packaging of the relevant product.
Handling disputes about goods not received
A common complaint in the cross-border e-commerce industry is that customers have not received goods for a long time. Before sending a letter, the customer service staff first learns the latest status of the order and package from the logistics company and verifies the customer complaint.
Principles of communication
One-time principle of information transmission
In the process of maintaining customer relationships, customer service personnel must interact and exchange information with each other. The same message can be sent only once, and a channel should be chosen that is convenient for customers to receive it.
Message sending time policy
The customers faced by cross-border e-commerce sellers are all overseas customers, which means that many customers’ work and rest schedules are different from those of the sellers.
Counteroffer methods and principles
There are two ways to counteroffer. One is to make a counteroffer based on comparable prices, that is, using the prices of similar products or competitors’ products as a reference.
Several tips to improve the efficiency of after-sales response
Customer service staff can classify common after-sales issues in advance and write corresponding email templates for each category. When receiving customer inquiries, they can respond with corresponding templates and specific handling methods to achieve preemptive measures. effect.