Did you know that 90 percent of American consumers decide whether to do business with a company based on the quality of their customer service?
You may think that customer support is just an operational component of your company, but if most of your customers should base their purchases and loyalty on this one factor, it’s wise to ensure that your service is top-notch.
The following are some tips and reminders about customer service for small businesses. Use them as a checklist when evaluating how your company interacts with its customers.
1. Be Prompt
In the age of service on demand, customers expect to be taken care of as soon as possible. Most customers expect a response time within an hour, with a resolution, or at least some progress toward a resolution within the first 24 hours. Therefore, getting back to customers the next business day is no longer acceptable even though it was within service standards only a decade ago.
If you’re caring for customers using a support ticket system, make sure that you employ at least one person to answer incoming tickets. No matter how small your business is, that kind of dedicated service will earn you customer loyalty.
2. Be Personal
It’s not enough to be courteous while running a business these days. Your customers expect you and your team to be personal. Catering to your customers’ needs means knowing their names, understanding their reason for doing business with you, and being able to anticipate their needs as much as possible.
Good business management, as well as intuitive support staff, are all that you need to ensure that your customers get personalized service that keeps them coming back. First of all, you should keep a detailed directory of unique customer data. Make the system easily accessible to your customer service team, so that they don’t have to waste time with generic intros and one-size-fits-all answers.
Then, you can opt to go the extra mile to make your customers feel special. For instance, you can treat each customer with a sample product or a discount on their birthday. This type of strategy can help with branding while offering above-average customer service.
3. Automated Customer Service for Small Businesses
While customers enjoy prompt and personal service, they also want agency over their business choices on their own terms. At times, customers just want to call a business or use their app and adjust the services that they pay for. This is where partially automated customer service plays a role in small businesses.
4. Be Pleasant
Pleasant interactions with your company’s representatives make for happy customers. Why not take customer care a step further and make their wait times pleasant as well?
For instance, you can choose pleasant music for your customers to listen to while they wait their turn to be served. The best on hold music is minimalist yet catchy. It is not too loud and abrasive, which means it won’t overwhelm a customer’s phone speaker.
Customer Care for the Win
Now that you know some of the secrets to great customer service for small businesses, you can help your company thrive and expand its base of loyal patrons.
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