Fishing for customers or delivering a great customer service?

Fishing for customers or delivering a good customer service?

Most of us already know the answer. Trying to catch new customers:

- is time consuming and sometimes requires extreme patience, 

- can be lonely and frustrating if you are on the road knocking on doors, 

- is not always rewarding as you often come home empty handed,

- does not necessarily bring success as you can catch the wrong type of customer,

- requires innovation as the competition comes trawling over your patch,

- often necessitate expensive baits such as promotion and discounts...

and the list goes on... So much that one wonders why there are still so many enthusiasts?

Most of us already know the alternative, provide an excellent customer service. Customers will come back, buy more, tell their friends, give you ideas for new products, do your marketing and negotiate your prices a little less. Maybe the time has come to do a little less fishing and a little more servicing.

Invest in customer service for a rainy day

Invest in customer service for a rainy day

Sometimes, the trading environment for your company deteriorates considerably. This might be due to factors beyond your control such as interruption of public services, supplier failure, natural catastrophe or other unforeseen circumstances. When this happens, customer and employee loyalty becomes a major determinant of a company's survival. Will they continue working with the company through thick or thin or is this just the last straw which will convince them to bail out.

Promises made in these times of hardship will have  little influence on customer and staff behaviour unless past experience has shown that the company cares deeply about its staff and customers. An excellent level of customer service can be just the way to demonstrate it. Customers will be pleased and their loyalty will increase purchase after purchase, reaching a point where they will be prepared to provide support to the company in return when it it experiences a rainy day. 

Similarly, for employees, delivering great customer service makes them proud of their jobs, proud of their achievements and grateful to the company which provides the platform for success. Once again if the circumstances warrant it, these employees will be prepared to go beyond the call of duty and help the company work its way out of trouble.

Will your customer service leave a long lasting impression?

Giving a good impression is the ambition of many companies and it is fair to say that with the investment in technology, social media and training much progress is being achieved across the board. The basis for competition has shifted though and with no immediate prospect of a sustained improvement in the economic environment, customer service's importance keeps growing. At the end of the day it is no longer enough to assess if your service performance was good enough. The key measure will be to what extent your customer service has left a long lasting impression and as a result existing customers will become promoters of your products and services

Offer good customer service to suppliers

Customer service supplier

In order to find a supplier, retain it and obtain a good performance, wouldn't it be appropriate to offer them your best customer service?
In most instances the underlying principle is that the customer is always right but this can cost your company dear. If your supplier fails to deliver the right products or services, your supply chain is broken and your own customers will pay the consequences, thereby affecting your reputation. In those situations, are you sure that you did not have a part to play in it? Was your order complete? Did your read the small print? Were your specs accurate? Did you change your mind? Did you pay in time? All these elements can easily disrupt the service you and your customers ultimately receive. There are many benefits in having loyal suppliers and sharing your success with them so next time you pass an order, make sure you offer them a good service too.


Picture courtesy of PeterStephens Photography and with approval from  http://devoniain.blogspot.com/ with our thanks

Customer service: giving up is not an option

Customer service options

In a harsh climate, companies' leadership teams may decide that investment in customer service is a low priority. Whilst the motivation is easy to understand and often driven by cost management measures, it is not sustainable. After all, when the winter is over, clients will remember where their bad customer experience and this will clearly influence their decision for future purchases. So even when it is tough out there, good customer service remains a critical tool to outshine the competition.

Why is customer service so important?

The importance of customer service

We were interviewed by Social Small Biz on the topic. Here is the link to the post:

http://www.socialsmallbiz.com/2010/03/22/why-is-customer-service-so-important/

A lot has already been written about customer service and I will not attempt to give you the full 50 pages answer: that can easily be found in text books. Instead I would like to focus on 3 aspects which all have critical impact on the financial health of a business.The first point is that customer service can be instrumental in managing the price sensitivity of customers. At a time when the economy is struggling and the fiscal pressure is increasing, everyone wants a good deal, but the explosion of voucher sites, discount codes and special sales is disorientating customers. They do not know when to shop, are constantly being moved around by comparator sites and

Customer service: not taking any chances

Customer service risk

Should companies take risks when managing customers relationships? There are well documented cases where economic imperatives have forced companies to take short cuts and potentially sacrifice their long term future. Most customers will let it happen once but like falling off a bridge, it is not something that they will want to experience again.

Picture courtesy of http://www.peterstephens.co.uk with our thanks

Monitoring customers' purchasing habits

Customer service monitoring

The increased availability of tools to support customer loyalty initiatives can be intrusive and creates threats to privacy in the eyes of customers. They could also be accused to contribute to the creation of a boredom factor. As customers are always presented with their favourite products, shopping for everyday items, tends to become a utility service. How could this mountain of data be used with more imagination to deliver better customer service?

Picture courtesy of http://sophieeggleton.withtank.com/ with our thanks