They say “Customers are always right”. You can’t argue less. Your customers are the most important assets of your business. You can have the best product, sell at the best price, but without the customers, you are not going to make profit, which the major reason why you are in business.
It is one thing to get customers, it is another thing to retain them. With so many competitors lurking around the corner to claw away your customers, your customer service has to be top notch. Here are some trusted customer service tactics that can help you stay ahead of the competition:
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Know Your Customers
Knowledge is power. How well do you know your customers?. Knowing your customers well is very important for staying ahead of the competition. When you know your customers’ needs, you meet them at the point of their needs. It is also good to know that customers preferences and expectations changes as time passes. So it is necessary to decipher what is really important to your customers at a point in time, and change your sales and marketing strategy accordingly.
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Resolve Issues at First Point of Contact
It is usually frustrating for a customer to have to explain his/her issues and complaints to several customer service representatives over and over again. That is also not good for your business and it can hand over your customers to the competitor. Make it a point of duty to ensure customers queries starts and ends with the first point of contact. This helps keep customers loyal and dedicated.
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Build Efficient Customer Service Infrastructure
You want to mine into any means to effectively communicate with your customers and serve them better. You can increase your contact centre numbers, make your website (if you have one) live chat powered to make it easier for your customers to reach you. Also have system in place that ensures prompt response when contacted.
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Have a Customer Management System
Don’t base your knowledge of your customers on guesses and vague ideas. Document your customers’ details and transaction history. With that, it is easier to give personal services to each customer and handle each customer as an individual. This makes them happy and they are more likely to stick with you. We have an easy to use free Customer Management Template for you. Download here.
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Listen and be Flexible
You will get a lot of feedback; both positive and negative from your customers. You will get suggestions from them on how to improve particular products or services. You will even get request for new products from them. Don’t be too quick to disregard them, because you have a business dream and how you want to do things. Allow the customers have a say, and be willing to adjust where necessary to satisfy them. Remember, the competitors are watching, and they might just be willing to do that one thing you are not willing to do to get your customers onboard.
Customer service is fast becoming the major factor in determining how long you will remain in business and how many customers you will retain. Do not spend more time on promo, marketing, and pricing and neglect what really makes the money in the long run. Customers are always right, make sure you are right too in your customer service.