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Sure, we all know that if customer service is good, customers are more likely to come back—a vital ingredient at any small business. Indeed, creating a love affair between company and customers adds a positive word of mouth that’s difficult to quantify, but absolutely priceless.
Yet customer service is still overlooked at many companies. That’s more than just unfortunate; it’s actually detrimental to that company’s overall success. Poor customer service leaves customers not only disappointed, but also unlikely to try your business again. (And why would they, with so many competitors vying for their money?) To grow your business, you’ve got to keep customers not just satisfied—but happy. Elated, even. When you nail your service experience, you’ll see repeat business, word of mouth referrals, and sky high online reviews.
Since customer service — and the customer experience as a whole—can make or break a business, it’s vital to make sure you get it right from the start. Here are four tips to help you get started:
To truly make customer service a priority, everyone must be able to define and deliver a tell-your-friends level of customer service. That means training each employee (from the CEO to the receptionist) on how to solve basic issues, route calls, and accept feedback. Then everyone can be ready to pitch in and help with customer support during busy times. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Your customers have cares, concerns, and tremendous ideas. In fact, some of our most popular features at Salesforce are a direct result of our IdeaExchange community. So take care of customer requests—and while you’re solving their issues, be sure to ask for suggestions and improvements, too. In addition to utilizing your customer service reps to ask leading questions via phone and email, you should also put out the feelers via surveys, focus groups, social media, and community groups.
While it’s important to foster those personal interactions, you’re also a growing business with a limited budget. Plus, not all issues need that time and expense of a one-on-one phone conversation. That’s why self-service tools have become a must-have for serious businesses. Customers have come to expect basic self-service options, even just a simple FAQ. As you start and grow your business, be sure to build this functionality in. It’ll save your company time and money, and who couldn’t use more of those?
How accessible is your customer data? When you connect all of your channels and the apps you use to run your business, everyone can be in the know about customers. And that gives everyone a leg up; the product team needs that customer feedback, the marketing team wants those product insights, and sales would kill to have support metrics to share with prospects and up-sell opportunities. You’ve got the data; just share it, and everyone can deliver outstanding experiences at every touchpoint.
Creating a customer-focused culture is an opportunity for growth. Too many businesses today are failing when it comes to the customer experience, which is just an opportunity for other companies to swoop in and enchant those same customers into falling for them. Don’t be on the short end of that stick; instead, get your customer experience right, right from the start.
Salesforce helps you find more customers, win their business, and keep them happy so you can grow your business faster than ever. Learn more about our small business CRM solutions or join the conversation with #SalesforceGROW.
