If marketing is the fuel for your business then customer service is the octane.
The higher the octane, the better your business will run.
Yes, customer service is actually part of the marketing process.
It affects word of mouth marketing, it affects your credibility and reputation and excellent customer service helps to establish you as a brand.
So what is the most important customer service question you can ask yourself?
What is a business owner’s most important customer service metric?
“Will your customers recommend your products or services to someone else?”
Here’s why this question is so important:
Recommendations of your product or services to friends and family demonstrate confidence in a quality product or service. This is the utmost compliment to your business. When you offer a superior product or service the only place you can go is up.
Word of mouth marketing is one of the best, most reliable and cost effective forms of marketing available. There really is nothing better than the testimonial or endorsement of one customer to another. Not only does it help to establish a pattern of loyalty and purchasing behavior it reinforces any buying decision.
Think about the products or services you endorse. Once you’ve told someone how wonderful the product or service is, you’re more inclined to continue using that product or service simply because you said you do.
And if a product or service has been recommended to you that recommendation weighs more heavily than any sales content can ever do. As a business owner, this type of marketing is essentially free. It is earned by the hard work of creating a top-notch company.
Customer recommendations make great marketing tools. An endorsement, testimonial or case study in your marketing materials is an excellent tool to help establish proof of your business. Your sales content can rave about how your product or service solves your customer’s problems but when someone else says it, it is more effective.
So you know what customer service is the most important question to ask yourself, how do you measure it? How do you know the answer?
Test it. Design systems to find out if customers recommend your products or services. You can accomplish this a number of ways including surveys or polls, incentive programs where customers receive a benefit by recommending you to others or by simply tracking how customers hear about you.
Promote it. Ask your customers to participate in a referral program. Every time someone recommends your product or service and a sale is made, reward them for spreading the word.
Maintain products, services, and a business you’re proud of. Create strong relationships with your clients and build the best business possible. That’s the key to getting customers who are more than happy to recommend you to others.
The most important customer service question is a valuable measurement of how you’re doing business. It helps you as a business owner not only understand how your customers value your products or services, it helps you gauge where you need to improve and it tells you how you can better improve your business to meet your customers’ and prospects’ needs.
Will your customers recommend your products or services to others?
About the Author
Robert Moment is an innovative small business coach, customer service consultant and author of “Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service”.
