5 Tips for Stellar Customer Service for Entrepreneurs
Nearly 90% of customers will choose to use a company’s services or products as long as they have a good customer service experience. When coupled with the knowledge that negative feedback generates more buzz than positive feedback, it is easy to see why customer service is so essential for a successful business. Check out these customer service tips to help your business stay ahead of the competition.
Listen to Your Customers
It may seem like the easiest way to provide customer service, but too many business owners don’t listen well enough to their customers, if at all. It can be tempting to put everything on automation in this digital age, but your customers want to speak to humans. Stand out from the crowd by providing a human touch and listening to your customer’s needs to create a personalized experience.
Consider Whether You’d Buy Your Product or Service
If you wouldn’t spend money on your own product or service, why should anyone else? Perhaps one of the biggest customer service tips is that you must adhere to is to provide excellent service from start to finish. A great experience throughout the buying process means nothing if the end result isn’t up to the customer’s standards. If something goes wrong, replace the product, re-do the service, or do whatever you need to do to make things right. You might feel you’re “losing money,” but imagine how much you’ll lose if a customer convinces other people not to try your service in the first place.
Provide Something Extra
Your customers like to feel special. Consider how you can provide that for them. For many business owners, it means creating a loyalty rewards program. For others, it means providing discounts, delivering early, or simply throwing in a small gift free of charge. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to make someone feel special but making someone feel special could bring in hundreds of dollars on his or her next order.
Be Responsive
Never ignore a customer who says he or she has a problem with your product or service, whether they call, come into your location, or post reviews online. Show empathy and remain calm during all interactions and always do your best to fix the problem to the customer’s satisfaction.
Keep Your Promises
Never make a promise you don’t intend to keep. If you promise delivery within a certain time frame, provide it. If you agree to match a competitor’s prices, do it. No matter what you promise, you must stick to it. Doing so raises your credibility and makes people more interested in continuing to do business with you.
Now that you have these customer service tips in mind, you can begin to create a better experience for new and established customers alike.
