Starting and running a business can be stressful and at the same time hugely rewarding. Whether you sell a product or a service, keeping customers happy should always be at the forefront of your business.
It is important to remember that unhappy customers can always shout louder and reach further than happy customers. This means that unfortunately they can have a bigger impact on your business than happy and satisfied customers. As the saying goes bad news travels faster than good news.
With this in mind, consistency is key. Whether you run a delivery business, a florist, a subscription box service or an online clothing store. Good, standardized customer service needs to be put in place and followed through with each and every customer. It is important to treat customers as you would want to be treated, and that is in a kind and appreciative tone and manner. This should be the same whether you are dealing with customers over the phone or via email. Consistent high quality customer care goes a long way in retaining customers
Top Tips for Great Customer Service
- Use your experience. Think about when you have had a fabulous experience with an online company and write down what worked well. Was it the tone or manner your enquiry was handled in, the response time to an email. Or perhaps it was the discount code sent to your email along with a customer service survey. Whatever it was, make a note of what you thought was good and work this into your Customer Service Policy.
- Smile when dealing with customers. This works wonders on phone calls as a smile changes how you speak, and who knows it might just brighten somebody’s day.
- Always be consistent. If you set a time limit to answer email enquiries then stick to it. If you are not reliable and consistent then customers will take their custom elsewhere.
- Be accessible, be contactable and be seen. Running an ecommerce business means you are already contactable via email. So, why not open up more channels of communication. Give customers other ways to contact you such as through social media.
- Dish out those customer care surveys. A quick 1-2 minute survey attached to an email won’t do any harm to a customer, but it will provide you with a useful insight into what you are doing well, and what you could be doing better.
- Learn from your mistakes. Unfortunately not every customer you have will be a happy one, so you need to deal with this head on and learn from the experience. Work out what went wrong, and when and make sure to include it in your customer service policy.
- Put yourself in the customers position. Think about what you would expect and compare that to what you are receiving. If it is not good enough then change it quickly.
When running a business there is always something to be done and sometimes customer service and care gets put to the bottom of the pile. To stop this happening create a customer service policy now. In the document don’t forget to include contact methods and response times as well as escalation processes if a customer is not happy.
