It's much easier to get repeat business from existing customers than get a new customer gear up your admin to keep your customers
Customer Service
It's big and it's clever. Good customer service will keep your customers coming back for more. You already know how hard it is to get a new customer for your business so why throw your old ones away?
There are whole rain forests worth of books and football stadiums worth of courses about delivering good customer service and what makes good customer service. In fact I defy you to find one large company employee who hasn't sat through at least one set of customer service training. Yet for all the money and time spent by business on customer service customers still don't get good service.
You only have to have one thing to deliver good customer service and it doesn't cost anything it's free and no amount of books, trainers, consultants or money will get it for you.
You have to care and if you have staff they have to care too.
After all you know "Have a nice day" means nothing unless the person who says it means it so why do you think the right opening/closing greeting to your customers will make any difference without the feeling behind it?
So you care you just need to use your common sense to show you care.
How do you show customers you care
In exactly the same way as any other person in your life. After all your customers are people aren't they?
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You return their calls
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You treat them with respect
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You try your best to help them
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You find out about their likes and dislikes
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You surprise them with thoughtful gestures
By now you're thinking "My goodness it's almost like a relationship" in fact it is exactly like a relationship. That's because it is a relationship and to be lasting it has to be mutually rewarding.
So you don't need to read on. You have all the information you need. Go out there and be the God of Customer Service.
Or you can read some hints and tips just to confirm how obvious and easy it all is.
Customer Service Hints and Tips
Telephones and Customer Service
Generally people pick up the phone because they want to speak to a person.
Answer your phone!
If its not a good time to talk to them or you don't have the information they want with you, tell them and arrange to call them back at a definite time.
Then call them back at the time you promised.
Even if you unexpectedly still can't help them. Call them back and say so. You are giving them the message that they are important enough to be kept informed which will probably mean as much to them as the information they wanted in the first place. People are funny like that.
Obviously you can't always be available but make sure you always return calls as quickly as possible even if you only call to say "I'm working on it" and try to give a bit of yourself in your answer phone message. Try to sound like a real person not a machine.
E mail and customer service
If you rarely check your e mail then don't offer it as a contact method. In other words don't promise what you can't deliver. Even if you set up an automated e mail response if you don't reply to e mails quickly then all you are doing is telling your customer that you've got their enquiry but you are ignoring them.
So you do check your e-mails and you find you get lots of enquiries about the same thing. You can
Include a frequently asked questions page on your web site and other publicity material
Set up standard e mail replies
Have an up to date copy of your opening times, services, price lists that you can send to customers.
But with all of these things take an extra minute to make sure you are answering the question your customer asked not the one you happen to have a response for. After all you wouldn't send someone a Get Well card on their birthday now would you?
E mails are a really good tool for keeping customers informed they are particularly good for confirming things like bookings, orders, delivery dates. Your customer gets instant notification in writing and it costs you nothing.
Letters and customer service
Something that's on the decrease in business now except for complaints. You can pretty much guarantee that if a customer has taken the trouble to write a letter then they are serious. So
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respond quickly
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answer all their questions
However, you don't have to write them a letter back not right away in fact sometimes it's a good idea not to. If they have supplied a telephone number ring them, sort out the problem on the phone. It will be easier. The phone is a two way process you can iron out or prevent misunderstandings. Hopefully you will both finish the conversation happy and with a better understanding of each other. Then you send your letter of reply confirming the things you have agreed and don't hold back on the formal apology if that's what it takes.
Face to face customer service
Honestly it's just like talking to a person!
Treat them with respect. That doesn't mean forelock tugging and "yes sir no sir" it means take them seriously.
Pay attention to what the person is saying, find out what it is they want if you can't supply what they want say so and why. If you know someone else can help them tell them about it. You would do that in a conversation with any ordinary person after all.
Conclusion
Good customer service for any business is about having a good relationship with your customers that is mutually bebeficial.
The same rules apply as with any good relationship to make it work you have to care and you have to show you care.