Providing stellar customer service is an excellent way to help customers to distinguish between your business and your competitors. With all of the online tools available and a changed employment landscape - think COVID lockdowns changing the way people work, commute, shop and spend their leisure time - there have never been more small businesses opening and competing for business.
Taking steps to ensure that you meet and exceed your customers’ expectations with genuine and attentive service is an excellent way to not only help you stand out from the bunch and secure your first sale but also it’s a good way to build brand loyalty and create repeat customers.
Having a business and marketing strategy that focuses on your customers and their needs helps you produce products and content that speaks directly to your target market. But how do you ensure that you are keeping your customers and their needs at the forefront of your thoughts and planning processes throughout the entire customer journey? I suggest that by spending a minute thinking not only about your target market, but also the kind of genuine and sincere service that you want to provide, you are setting yourself up for the win.
Perhaps writing a Customer Service Charter for your business is what you need to do, to fully flesh out your intentions and put practical steps in place. This would also help to get your team up to speed and on board, if you have employees.
On a more practical level, think about email automations for thank you messages after sign ups and sales. Think about your onboarding process and whether your customer knows what to expect at each stage of their journey with you. Are your shipping and refund policies clear and easy to find on your website? How do you reward loyal customers? In what ways can you personalise your customer service so that each customer feels like an individual?
Another aspect of good customer service is being able to take feedback with grace and an open mind. When you are running your own business, it’s definitely easy to wear your heart on your sleeve and feel like any criticism is a personal slight. However, no-one is perfect and your customers will have feedback for you. Keeping an open mind and showing a willingness to learn and improve can go a long way to building trust and loyalty in your customers.
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