We talk a lot about how much of the success of a business relies on the quality of the product and services offered. The daily grind quickly becomes about sales, advertising, growth, and evolution. Customer service takes a back seat in comparison, and customers are taking note.
The attention of today’s customers is pulled in an infinite number of directions thanks to busy schedules that have no reprieve from advertising. Everywhere we look there’s an ad for that. Which is why business excellence has to include a focus on quality customer service.
If you look online at reviews, they often include tales of customer service experiences. Maybe the product was great, but when there was an issue with shipping it was impossible to get a hold of someone. Perhaps the customer needed help choosing exactly the right product and was provided a personal shopper. The point is that reviews of all kinds are valuable, and the ones depicting customer service experiences carry a lot of weight.
Your customer service goal is to convert shoppers into fans. You want them to tell everyone they know how awesome your company is as a whole. You want thoughts of spending money on your business to be the moment of epiphany in a shopper’s dilemma. Who they gonna call? You!
To endear yourself, provide customer service with a human touch. Compose email responses unique to the message rather than choosing something from a template. Have a human answer the phone (at least once in a while), and call back within 24 hours or less. Get classy with thank-yous. Handwritten notes of thanks or congratulations are memorable and impressive because it reminds your customer that there are real people working behind the scenes to get their 
order fulfilled. Which also means when they contact you with a question or complaint, a real person will assist them. Which means that the money they’re paying for your products is paying real people! And that matters to a lot of customers; they can see how spending more money on your products rather than the other guy is supporting small business.
People aren’t as likely to rage on or wax poetic about this great product they found. A terrible or fantastic customer service moment though? Put the coffee on, because this story is going to take a while! Ensure that you’re giving your customers the support that they deserve, even if it is to personally apologize to someone that you are unable to fulfill their request. Keep a sharp eye on reviews posted online about your own company, and find out what people are praising about successful companies to gain insight on how you can better provide support.
Jelly Triangle can help you set up an online marketing strategy targeted to ideal customer with unique, customized content. Call to book your free consultation at (519) 624 8888.
