How good of a job would you say you do when it comes to properly taking care of your customers?
For many business owners, this task can prove to be the most challenging one they ultimately end up facing.
While you can have the best products or services, a great team of employees, even marketing that is second-to-none, your customer service falling short of expectations can be quite damaging.
With that in mind, now would be a good time heading into 2017 to see just how good of a job you are doing with customer service.
At the end of the day, making things a breeze for your customers should always be a top priority.
Take Credit Where You Should
In order to exceed customer expectations, start by reviewing your common business practices as of today.
Among the areas you should be excelling at:
- Solving problems – First and foremost, do you solve each and every problem that customers bring to you? For example, if a customer makes a purchase and is unhappy with the product or service, how quickly do you act to rectify the situation? If the answer is as soon as possible, good. If the response is when we get around to it, not good. Keep in mind that customers typically have a variety of businesses with which to choose from, so there is no guarantee you will get them back if you make even one mistake in their eyes. Do your best to handle problems (and even answering customer questions) in an expedient manner;
- Customer payments – Do you make it easy for customers to make purchases or do they have to jump through hoops? Although some businesses still only deal in cash transactions, many more accept credit card payments. In times when many business owners are fighting for every dollar possible, it certainly helps your company to be open to credit card payments, along with debit cards. If you have yet to install a credit card payment system, it is easier than you might think. Take things a step further and put in place a mobile system, allowing you to accept credit card payments when doing business on the road. As you can see, the more flexibility you provide customers in making payments, the better your chances are to ring-up sales.
Marketing Your Brand
- Spreading the word – Even the best of companies can’t truly realize their potential if they are not properly marketing their brand. That said make it easy for customers to find you both on and offline. As for the offline efforts, be present in your local community, both from a business sense and helping locals. As more consumers get to see and hear about your brand, their interest level is likely to go up (assuming you have something they want). When it comes to online efforts, marketing your brand to customers can be done any number of ways. If you are not already blogging, change that moving forward. Your blog can (and should) be a great resource in making it easier for consumers to get to know you. Also look to mobile marketing if you are not already on that train. Mobile marketing affords your company the opportunity to do business with consumers immediately. Whether consumers are actually in your store or nearby, a simple text alerting them to specials and savings can be just what is needed to make a sale;
- Being thankful – Last but certainly not least, are you truly thankful for your customers? Keep in mind that you would not even have a business to run were it not for those supporting you. That said showing your customers you are genuinely grateful for them is imperative. Simple gestures such as saying thank you each time you do business with them, providing them with rewards programs etc. are just some of the ways to keep them coming back. In the end, treat your customers as you’d want to be treated when you in fact are the customer to someone else.
In running a company, how would you rate your efforts in making business a breeze for your customers?