As a small business owner, you have a lot going against you. You might think that those things can shut you down in a heartbeat, but you could not be more wrong. There is a lot of room for you to be a true success, and it all falls on how you treat your customers. Sure, there are big businesses out there that may look more impressive and promising on the surface, but when you are able to beat them in customer service, you will always come out on top.
Learn From the Big Businesses
Take Microsoft Corporation for example. They are large and they are fairly successful. However, they have had some bumps on their road to success and even to this day, a simple online search will show you that there are still a lot of people complaining about this company. It is not so much that the complaints are about their Microsoft products. No, it is about the level of customer service that customers feel they are getting.
Many people are voicing their concern that they are not being heard and that whenever they call for assistance, they are transferred back and forth and placed on hold until they just finally give up and hang up. That is not an experience you want your customers to have, so learn from that. If you are going to have a person or a department in charge of handling technical problems, warranty issues, or customer complaints, you need to make sure that they are well trained. If a call does need to be transferred, it should only be transferred once.
Streamline Methods for Customer Interaction
You may want to encourage your customers to reach out to you whenever they need you, but you want to take a streamlined approach with this. For example, do not make the mistake of assuming that the more methods of contact you provide to the customer, the better your customer service is. It is actually the opposite. This is because you will either need more employees or the productivity of your current staff will be stretched past its limits because they are trying to cover all the bases. So instead of offering customer support through social media, e-mail, instant messaging, telephone, fax, and online contact forms, you will want to stick to one or two. Providing an email and a phone number is the best way to handle customer service relations well.
Give Something Back
One aspect that many bigger companies are failing to consider is that they really need to show their customers that they are truly appreciative of the business they gave them. Through a customer loyalty card, a reward’s system, or even a simple stock holiday card mailed out, you will show those who choose to spend their money on you and your business that you care. This is what will help you generate repeat business that you will be able to count on.
Let Them Know You Are Listening
Too many times, people find that when they are talking to a big business that they are not really being heard. Sometimes, they might even receive an answer to a problem that does not actually match the problem that was explained – like a stock answer that is given out to everyone. People do not respond well to that. Therefore, you want to make sure that you are listening to the customer, take notes, and repeat back part of what you heard about their problem. This not only shows the customer that you were truly listening, but it will give them confidence that they are finally talking to a company that cares about them. Also, make sure that you are under-promising and over-delivering. This way, your customers are always left feeling satisfied with the outcome.
With those points in mind, you should find that your level of customer service satisfaction will increase and far surpass those of your competitors.
