Customer Service Helping Or Hindering Your Business

Customer Service Helping Or Hindering Your Business

As a consumer when you need to reach out to a business to address any issues you’ve experienced with their product or service, you want that experience to be exceptional, In today’s blog I am going to address whether your customer service is helping or hindering your business.

Starting Out

When starting out on this journey of entrepreneurship, not much was mentioned on the issue regarding customer service, if anything y0u are told to…

Know your target customer
Do Live Videos
Build an email list
Have a sales funnel in place
How to run Facebook ads
Putting a social media marketing strategy in place

Very little emphasis is put on customer service and how to put systems in place especially if you’re a one person operation. The above list are all necessary components when growing your business however as an entrepreneur you need to know how to provide an excellent customer service experience.

So many entrepreneurs fall short in this area is this is one of the main components that hurts your business. You have to be proactive to set this in place as you are growing your business. It doesn’t matter if you are a solopreneur you still need to have this in place, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Depending on what your business offers in the form of products or services, think through all of the issues that can occur and create a policy on how you will address it moving forward.

The biggest killer of your credibility as a business owner is to ignore the concerns or issues of a customer’s issue.

Display Issues

One of my biggest pet peeves as a consumer is when I go to a website and I see all the bells and whistles for me to purchase, and sign up for a discount or free shipping, but when I receive the product and there is an issue with it now when I return back to their website there is no sign of how to contact them regarding customer issues.

You don’t have to have an elaborate customer service plan but make sure you have one in place, just as good news about your business travels faster, bad service travels even faster.

Display your customer service policy on your website where it can be seen, you can create forms to utilize on your website for feedback like Google forms or Jotform even if you don’t have a website and are utilizing platforms like Instagram to showcase your products/services, you can use the tool linktree to display various links to forms or offers.

The goal is to make it just as easy to contact you as it was to purchase from you.

Handle Issues On Your Homebase

There was a show I was watching in the niche of home design on Netflix which showcased beautiful furnishings which they offer in their stores as well as online, this business became very popular and has a presence on Instagram, when I went through the comments of what their followers were saying there were some customer service issue comments in the area of shipping and how long they have to wait for someone to return their call.

This is of uber importance because these followers went to their social media page to air out a grievance that had not been addressed. One of the followers stated although they had beautiful furnishings because of a bad shipping experience they were no longer going to purchase from them. Another follower stated how they have the worst customer service they contacted them but they are still waiting for their issue to be handled.

When you don’t handle issues on your homebase ie, your website irate customers will go to your social media platforms and leave bad reviews and comments and this is damaging to your image because most of the times when a consumer is vetting a business they go to their social media platforms to see the feedback that people are leaving before they make a decision to purchase.

Your goal as an entrepreneur is to settle quickly any issues the customer may have faced, you don’t want them to feel burnt or slighted that they made a wrong decision to purchase from your business.

Implement Customer Service Tools

Having the right tools in place can mean all the difference when showing your customers that you value their business, so here is a list of free and paid tools, choose one that is a good fit for your business.

You want to be well equipped when starting out in your business and I want you to be as aware of how to keep your customers as well as acquire them.

As an entrepreneur you may have faced many hurdles that this year has brought you, your business has to grow and overcome those hurdles so it is a good business practice to make the time investment to ensure your customers are having a great experience with your business.

The Benefits Of Great Customer Service

One of the benefits of great customer service is increased revenue, when your business goes above and beyond to ensure your customers/clients are well taken care of, they respond with loyalty and they refer others to your business.

It costs less for you to market to a returning customer, a solid customer doesn’t need the same prompting that a cold or warm prospect needs. They already know what you provide and they are loyal to stay a repeat customer.

When you think about your favorite brands, you’re not waiting for them to send you some marketing material to make a purchase.

When you have a specific need that they carry you visit their store or website, it doesn’t even matter if the item is on sale or they offer some type of incentive (although those are nice as well 🙂 you are going to purchase because you trust them and you know you are getting great value.

When your returning customers have great experiences they leave positive feedback, they may even follow you on your social media platforms and become your biggest cheerleaders #brandambassadors, there are many benefits associated with making customer service a priority in your business.

Don’t just state that you offer great customer service in your marketing materials as a ploy to get purchases, make good on those claims so your business will not take a negative hit in the beginning of the customer’s journey.

Your business is not just selling a product or service it’s ensuring the people who are your customers are feeling valued in the process and make sure you’re connecting with them at a level where they feel it.