In our previous Blog we mentioned the importance of excellent Customer Service. The second Blog in our series on “Customer Service” covers how you can implement these tips in your business in order to create a culture of excellent customer service. Customer service is the heart beat of any company because the happier clients/customers are with your product/service the more likely they are to keep coming back for more. The more they come back, the more money they spend, the more money they spend, the more your business grows, its that simple.
“If you don’t take care of your customer, your competitor will.” ~Bob Hooey
Before we begin here is a list of the top 5 customer service tips we are going to cover;
- Know thy customer
- Reward loyal customers
- Practice Authenticity
- How to execute Customer service using Social Media
- Under Promise over deliver at all times
Part One:
1. Know thy Customer;
One of the most important components of running a successful business is knowing your clients/customers very well. This includes not only knowing their specific problems but also knowing their, needs, wants, frustrations, dislikes and how they feel about your product/service. The trick is that not all customers/clients will communicate their frustrations and what they dislike about your product/service. They probably won’t tell you, but they would tell every one they know. And we don’t want this now do we? You can overcome this by administrating customer service surveys which you can ask your customers to fill out or you could use an online platform like https://www.surveymonkey.com/ which allows you to digital surveys for customers to fill out. Or you could randomly ask your customers/clients random questions. The trick with doing this is that you would need to reward your customers for taking the time to do these surveys.
2. Reward loyal customers;
In a world where company’s are engaged in one way communication which pushes their own agendas, you can stand out by rewarding your most loyal customers. The biggest mistake which is made by small business’s right up to your corporate giants is that there is too much focus on generating more revenue and profits. This results in poor customer service as a result. Now the big question is how do you reward your loyal customers? Depending on the nature of your business you it can start off as something as simple as a thank you note, offering discounts, some business’s implement loyalty/rewards programs obviously if you are a small business and you know your most loyal customers you wouldn’t have to have such systems in place as they might be too expensive. However you could implement them manually. For example if you have a photography business or you have your own restaurant you could give your loyal customers discounts or better yet give them one free service once in a life time. Always give your best attention to your most loyal customers because if you give them attention and special treatment. They will keep coming back for more. As humans we love feeling special and wanted, nobody can honestly say they don’t love feeling special and exclusive otherwise there would be no need for VIP areas in places, exclusive this and that, limited edition this and that, private schools, private jets, business class and so forth.
Let me make one example for you. There’s this one Coffee shop i use to go to all the time, i was their regular customer, i came in, sat in the same spot, ordered a Cappuccino all the time. It got to a point where I was recognizable and the waiter who usually served me knew what I would order before I placed it. Now this went on for about 3 years so you can imagine. But I had one problem with the coffee shop i would come in sit in the exact same spot, but i would wait for like 10-15 minutes sometimes before i was served, for a regular i did’t feel like i was appreciated so i left, now imagine their loss. Because i had all my meetings there, which means i brought in more business for them. What a shame. My point is Great service = Repeat Sales, repeat sales = more business. Remember that when you lose one customer/client the damage is more than what you think. For example if you own a restaurant the loss of one customer might take away 10-20 other customers. Because when that one customer leaves they leave with their friends, family members and colleagues.
We will leave it there for now. In the next Blog we will cover tips 3-5. In the meantime please feel free to share your thoughts on this Blog in the comments section below.
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