How important are your customers to your business? Easy answer, they are the one most important keys to your business success. Has there ever been a more important time to keep your customers and gain new ones? Not in my lifetime.
Your asking yourself how to keep the customers you have and gain more. Again, easy answer assuming your product or service is already excellent; it's your customer service. Customer service is what will differentiate you from your competition, it's what will keep your customers coming back to you, and will get those customers talking to their friends, family and neighbors.
Now matter how big or small your business, your service standard, what you are willing to do for your customer’s start with you, the business owner.
As the business owner ask yourself how much are you willing to do for your customers and how empowered are your customer service employees to satisfy your customers. Your customer service representatives are generally the first people to talk with your customers and it's at this point the service you offer will either compel your customers to do business with you again and recommend you or just get the business at hand over with. Remember, the internet has made it very easy for your customers to simply find someone else. You have an obligation to your business and customer service employees to not let that happen.
Here are 5 tips you can implement today to get your business back on track starting with your customer service department.
1. Your customer service employees need to answer the phone in a tone that says to the customer "we are here to help you and solve your problem." Remember, it's about the customer, not about any issue your service representative is having that day.
2. When there is a problem train your customer service representatives to apologize without "buts" or "whys". An apology is an apology and the customer should not be made to feel like they did something wrong. "I am so sorry about that" or “I am very sorry for the inconvenience we caused" in a genuinely apologetic tone should help put the customer at ease.
3. Once you have apologized, solve the problem and if the customer service representative cannot resolve the situation, give the customer to someone who can.
4. Keep promises. If a customer is promised a call back within 30 minutes, call back within 30 minutes even if the problem has not been resolved. Advise the customer what the situation is and tell them you will call them with an answer.
5. Don't forget your good customers or your dissatisfied ones. Your service team should send a gift to your good customers as a thank you for their business. Remember selling to existing customers is much easier than gaining new ones. When you forget about your customers they will forget about you. Sending a gift to a dissatisfied customer just may turn them into a returning customer. These customers will most likely talk about your business to friends, colleagues and family in a positive light even if they had an issue with your service or product.
Go above and beyond for your customers, over deliver to them and they will remember you in prosperous or tough economic times.
