In today’s increasingly competitive global economy, excellent customer service can make or break a small business.
According to one survey, 68% of customers are willing to spend more money with businesses where they have had a positive service interaction. On the other end of the spectrum, 71% of consumers have ended a business relationship due to poor customer service.
When so many businesses are doing the same thing to attract the same pool of customers, it can be difficult to keep up.
What can you do to differentiate your company and beat the competition? So, what is it that will elevate your standard customer service to a new level that your customers will recognize?
Why is Customer Service Important?
The key to a successful business is to provide excellent customer service.
Customers will associate positive customer service experiences with the transaction you provide them. And they will then be more likely to return and do business with you again.
According to Greg Smith of Send Handwritten, in DevReady podcast episode 85, a company should create a “WOW” customer experience for the customers.
WOW experiences are defined by exceeding customer expectations, meeting their needs, and providing them with more than they anticipated.
This experience happens when you treat your customers as best as you can – giving them the high-quality service they deserve.
“What human beings crave for is a five or even six-star experience, and that is all about humanity. It’s all about treating the human as best as we can possibly muster – the emotional labor to deliver. It’s about caring.”
Greg Smith
Here are 5 ways to stand out from the crowd, grow your business, and make your customers happy with your product or service.
1. Make an emotional connection with your customers
Regularly reaching out to your customers, getting to know them by name, and remembering faces will make all interactions with your business more memorable and will make your customers feel valued.
The best customer experiences are achieved if you build rapport and establish an emotional connection with your customers.
According to the Journal of Consumer Research, more than half of an experience is based on emotion because emotions shape the attitudes that drive decisions. Customers become loyal because they are emotionally attached to a product or service and remember how they feel when they use it.
2. Keep an eye out for customer feedback
How can you tell if you are delivering a WOW customer experience?
When it comes to improving your customer service experience, you don’t have to guess. If you actively seek feedback from your customers, they will tell you.
Customers are more likely to invest in your product if they believe you are listening to what they have to say, whether through a customer survey or an open invitation to share reviews on websites like Yelp or Facebook.
Whether you conduct an email survey or use an NPS scoring system, you can get a sense of your customer base’s satisfaction and the areas where you’re falling short of expectations.
But don’t just get feedback for the sake of doing it. Use that feedback to make necessary changes. Use your customer’s suggestions to improve your product or service. They will be more loyal to you if they know you listen to them and not just hear them.
3. Be present on every level
From the service counter to social media to emails, customer service is all about being present.
Taking too much time to respond to customers via phone, email, or social media will almost certainly leave them feeling neglected and eventually dissatisfied with your services.
The use of customer contact information for proactive post-transaction and post-visit follow-up is key to the success of your customer experience strategy.
This also shows a genuine interest in their journey with your brand even after they have left your store or spent money with you. Don’t pass up these opportunities.
4. Use effective social media marketing strategies
Social media platforms today offer more opportunities for personal connections.
People can easily comment, share, and show interest in your company, brand, products, and services from anywhere in the world at any time.
If you aren’t taking advantage of the personal touch that social media brings to customer service, you should start right away.
A high-level customer experience strategy is to use social media to make customers feel like they are close confidants of your brand.
5. Create a clear customer experience vision
The first step in pursuing organizational change for the way your company provides services to its customers is to create a CLEAR customer experience vision.
What is the impact of a clear CX vision?
It gets everyone on the same page and marching to the same beat in terms of customer experience. It is your employees’ north star, their guiding light, indicating exactly what experience they will provide to your customers.
Final thoughts…
In a world where switching brands is all too easy, good customer service is important to retaining customers and growing your business.
Many customers will stay with their current provider if they feel valued and listened to, even if competitors offer lower prices or better deals.
Why?
Because customer experience is important for brand loyalty and profitability.
If you provide excellent customer service while your competitors do not, you will stand out in the sea of competition.
So, don’t underestimate the power of a CX.
Learn more about how to stand out in the sea of sameness using customer service and listen to the DevReady Podcast with Greg Smith of Send Handwritten, with the hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis of Aerion Technology as they discussed how to nurture relationships with clients.
Aerion Technologies has a proven DevReady Process where we work with you and the other stakeholders to design a product/service that users will love to use and recommend to others. From conceptualizing to ensuring there’s a product-market fit—we do it all. So, get in touch for a Free Consultation today!
