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Good customer service is essential to the success of any business. It’s not only a sign of good service, but it creates a good impression on your customers. Good customer service means handling queries and complaints from your customers, giving them fast and prompt attention, resolving their issues, providing friendly and helpful assistance, keeping them updated about the progress of their inquiries or orders, etc.
If you are a small business owner with limited resources, it can be challenging to provide excellent customer service. However, by adopting some simple tips and tricks, you can ensure that your customers have a positive experience every time they deal with your business regardless of having a website of your own or forming part of a marketplace. Here are some excellent customer service tips for small business owners.
Tips for Great Customer Service
Customer service is something that can either make or break a business. Here are smart tips for delivering exceptional customer service to make your business stand out from the competition.
Build rapport with your customers
This means you will establish a connection with them by showing interest in who they are and what they want to achieve when purchasing your product. When you establish a rapport with your customers, they are more likely to trust your recommendations and feel comfortable letting you help them achieve their goals. When establishing a connection with your customers, it’s essential to remember that customers want to feel like they are being heard and that there is an open line of communication available for them if needed. This means that you should actively listen to your customers and show them that you are paying attention to them. Two of the most common, but not popular ways can be summarizing what they’ve said and asking them follow-up questions. Follow-up questions allow customers to feel that you care about their purchase not only monetarily but the significance that it means to buy something from your small business. A purchase of a clothing item may mean a physical transformation for a battered woman that is now on the other side and ready to match her physical with her emotions. A handmade gift may equate to something he or she saw as a little girl or boy that now reminds them of their childhood and provides a special memory. Answering important questions means involvement in your customer’s lives which in turn helps you improve your product or service.
Be present on every level.
This means that you and your team must be engaged with your customers on every level and be focused entirely on their needs and wants. Customers crave to be heard and want to know you are fully engaged with them when they are with you. Actively listening to what they say, paying attention to their needs, and responding promptly.
Treat every customer with the same level of service.
Treat every customer with respect and with the same level of engagement that you would expect for yourself. Not giving preferential treatment to one customer over another based on who they are or where they come from. Instead, provide each customer with the same level of service that will make them feel valued and appreciated. This is an essential aspect of providing excellent customer service. If you treat every customer with the same level of service, customers will notice this, and they will appreciate that they are being treated fairly and equitably.
Pay close attention to customer feedback.
Actively seek customer feedback by asking questions, offering surveys, and pursuing feedback. This is an essential step in delivering excellent customer service, and customer feedback can reveal new product ideas, marketing insights, and more. For small businesses in the marketplace, a good place to start marketing with emails is Mailchimp. Mailchimp allows you to have approximately 2,000 contacts for free and gives you enough free templates to start reaching out to your customers. Within Galilee Life you can export and print your customers names and emails or request them via [email protected]. By setting up your emails you can stay in touch with your recent buyers keeping them informed of any new products for future purchases.
Hire team members with excellent people skills
Even in the marketplace, you can hire employees, freelancers, virtual assistants, volunteers, and more. As you grow, the more you can delegate the better. Search for team members who have a track record of providing excellent customer service and who are known for being friendly, outgoing, and engaging with others. You will also look for employees who have experience in the industry and have proven track records of success. This is an essential step in delivering excellent customer service. Having people on your team that believe in your mission and are a strong asset in your business should care about customer excellency the way you do. Hiring the right people matters.
Learn to be a pro at problem-solving.
Learn how to solve customer problems quickly and efficiently by asking the right questions, making the correct assumptions, and providing the right solutions. Problem-solving is essential to providing excellent customer service because it allows you to stand out from your competitors. When you can solve your customers’ problems quickly, efficiently, and with ease, customers will appreciate that you want to help them and that you care about their experiences with your business.
Don’t make false promises
Avoid making promises to your customers that you can’t keep. Instead, make guarantees that you can deliver on. If you make false promises to your customers, they will notice this, and your business will likely turn them off. Customers want to feel that you are reliable and trustworthy and not making false promises that eventually will probably lead to a loss of confidence in your business.
Understand the value of customer retention
Actively focus on retaining your best customers by ensuring they are happy with your service by receiving the best possible experience from you. Retaining your customers is essential to delivering excellent customer service because it will keep them coming back to you. When you try to retain your customers, they will feel valued and appreciated, and they will likely be more likely to refer their friends to your business as well. Return customers are the best customers because those are the ones that gave you a try, saw your potential, and slowly begin to build the trust in your business that you need to succeed. 10 return customers are better than 100 new ones because return customers make you feel like you are doing something right.
Treat your team members the way you expect them to treat your customers.
Always lead by example. Invest in your team members by supporting them, helping them achieve their goals, and giving them the tools, they need to give excellent customer service. Treating the people on your team well makes them more likely to provide the best service to your customers. They will feel appreciated and valued and motivated to do their best and deliver excellent customer service. Plus, when your employees feel like they are part of a winning team, they will be more likely to refer their friends to work for you and bring in new customers for your business.
Excellent customer service
Excellent customer service is something that can either make or break a business. It’s no secret that today’s customers are constantly connected. They let businesses know how they feel about their experiences by reaching out on social media, reviewing them online, and telling their friends. Unhappy customers can negatively impact your business and lead to declining sales, lower word of mouth, and even loss of new customers. That’s why providing excellent customer service is essential for any business looking to succeed in today’s market.
