Excellent customer service is essential for any small business. Not only does it create repeat customers, but it also generates positive word-of-mouth marketing. Good customer service can be the difference between a successful small business and one that quickly fails. Luckily, there are some easy ways to provide great customer service, even on a tight budget.
The Importance of Customer Service for Small Businesses
Small businesses often have to work harder to stand out from the competition, and customer service is one way to do that. It shows that you care about your customers and are willing to go the extra mile to ensure they have a positive experience. In today’s world, where there are so many choices, good customer service can be a deciding factor in whether or not someone does business with you.
Good customer service can help a small business to grow through word-of-mouth referrals. When customers have a positive experience with a small business, they are more likely to tell their friends and family about it. This can help to generate new customers and grow the business. It also helps to build loyalty and trust, which are essential for any business.
here’s why Should Customer Service Be Outsourced? read more!
5 Strategies for Small Business Customer Service
In today’s competitive market, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your customers are happy and satisfied with your products or services. There are a number of ways to do so, but here are five strategies that we believe can make a big impact.
Strategy #1: Do what the incumbent can’t (or won’t)
Small businesses have to be nimble and quick to improve their customer service. This means looking at what the competition is doing and doing the opposite. If the competition is providing a great customer experience, then you need to find a way to one-up them. This could mean offering more personalized service, more convenient hours, or faster shipping. By doing what the competition doesn’t do, you’ll be able to improve your customer service and stand out from the crowd.
Don’t worry if it doesn’t scale
As your small business grows, you may find that your customer service methods need to be adjusted. For example, you may need to add more customer service reps or change the way you handle customer inquiries. However, don’t worry if your customer service methods don’t scale immediately. You can always make changes as your business grows.
Let customers see behind the curtain
Nothing tops opening up the lines of communication with customers (e.g., via social media, customer surveys, etc.), being transparent about company policies and procedures, and proactively addressing customer concerns and complaints. This will build trust and ensure a high level of customer retention.
Strategy #2: Invest in customer support early
Investing early in customer service can help you build a loyal customer base and keep your business afloat during tough times.
Decide which channels you’re going to actively cover
The best customer service channels for a small business will vary depending on the type of business, its products or services, its target market, and a number of other factors. However, some tips on how to choose the right customer service channels for your small business include:
- Consider your target market: Which customer service channels are most popular with your target market? If you’re targeting millennials, for example, you may want to focus on channels like social media and live chat.
- Evaluate your resources: How many customer service channels can you realistically cover given your resources? It’s important to be realistic here – if you’re a small business with limited staff, you may not be able to cover all channels 24/7.
- Consider your budget: Some customer service channels can be more expensive to maintain than others. If you’re on a tight budget, you may want to focus on cheaper channels like email or self-service options.
- Consider your goals: What are your customer service goals? If you’re looking to improve customer satisfaction, you may want to focus on channels that allow for two-way communication like the phone or live chat.
Create self-service content ASAP
A small business can create self-service content by creating a knowledge base or FAQ section on their website. This content can be created by the business owner or a hired content writer. It is important to make sure that the content is clear, concise, and easy to find.
Have some structure in place, even if it’s basic
It’s important to structure your customer service in a small business as, in addition to ensuring a consistent level of customer experience quality, it allows you to delegate customer service tasks to different team members so that everyone has a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
Here are a few ways you can structure your small business customer service:
- Define what excellent customer service means for your business.
- Train all employees on the importance of providing great customer service.
- Put systems and processes in place to help deliver consistent customer service.
- Regularly assess and review your customer service to ensure it is meeting the needs of your business and your customers.
Strategy #3: Involve the whole company
It takes a team effort to provide excellent customer service. Every employee should be aware of the company’s customer service policies and procedures and be prepared to deal with customer issues. Here is how to do it:
Encourage ride-along
Ride-along is when an employee accompanies a customer during their experience with the company, in order to get a better understanding of their needs and how they interact with the company. This can be beneficial for small businesses because it allows employees to see first-hand what the customer experience is like and identify any areas that need improvement.
There are a few ways to encourage ride-along within a small business:
- Make it part of the onboarding process for new employees. This will ensure that everyone is aware of the importance of ride-along and knows how to do it effectively.
- Encourage employees to ride-along with customers on a regular basis, even if they don’t have any specific concerns or issues to address. This will help them to build a better understanding of the customer experience.
- Reward employees who take the time to ride-along with customers. This could be in the form of a bonus or extra vacation days.
- Make sure that employees who do ride-along are properly prepared, providing them with the necessary training and resources, such as customer service scripts.
Have all-hands days
All-hands days are company-wide meetings where everyone in the company gathers to hear updates and announcements. They allow all employees to be on the same page and work together to provide the best possible service to customers. It is also a great way to build team morale and improve communication between employees.
Report on customer service metrics at company meetings
Reporting on customer service metrics at company meetings is a good way to keep everyone in the company focused on improving customer service. It’s also a good way to get feedback from employees about what is working well and what needs to be improved.
Some important customer service metrics to track include first call resolution rate, customer satisfaction score, and net promoter score. These metrics will give you a good idea of how your company is doing in terms of customer service and where there is room for improvement.
Strategy #4: Audit your efforts
Auditing customer service efforts for a small business is important to ensure that the customers are happy and satisfied with the products and services that they are receiving and to identify any potential issues that could cause customer dissatisfaction. By addressing these issues before they become problems, businesses can avoid losing customers due to poor customer service.
Decide on baseline metrics and measure against them regularly
Some general metrics that all small businesses should track include sales figures, customer satisfaction levels, employee productivity, and operational costs. By regularly monitoring these and other key metrics, small businesses can gain valuable insights into their overall performance and identify areas where improvements need to be made. Once you have determined which metrics are most important, you should measure against them regularly and adjust your marketing strategy as needed.
Be very honest about what’s working and what isn’t
You need to be able to take feedback from customers and employees to see what’s working and what isn’t in terms of customer service. It is important to be able to quickly adapt and change in order to better meet the needs of customers. Learning from customer service failures and growing is the key to improving your customer service as a small business.
Update when possible
Even if your customer service methods are already good, it’s important to keep them up-to-date. The customer service landscape is always changing, so make sure you’re prepared for whatever new challenges may arise.
In particular, you should keep an eye on new technologies that can help you improve your customer service. Staying up-to-date on the latest customer service trends will ensure that your methods are in line with what customers expect.
Strategy #5: Listen to your customer service team
Your customer support staff are the ones who interact with your customers on a daily basis. They can provide valuable insights into what customers are saying about your company and its products or services. They can also offer suggestions on how to improve your customer service strategy.
Give customer support a direct line to leadership
This will ensure that customer concerns are escalated and addressed in a timely manner, help to build trust between leadership and the customer service team, as well as improve communication and collaboration.
Allow them to influence business decisions
Yes, it is important to allow your customer service staff to influence business decisions as part of your customer service strategy. This will help ensure that the decisions made are in line with the needs and expectations of your customers. Additionally, it will build trust and rapport between your business and your customer base.
What do People Expect from Small Business Customer Service?
Most people expect small business customer service to be friendly, helpful, and responsive. They want employees who are knowledgeable about the products or services offered and who are willing to take the time to answer questions and address concerns.
Customers also appreciate it when businesses offer convenient hours, easy-to-use customer service tools, and clear and concise communication.
In general, people want to feel valued and appreciated by the businesses they patronize, and they expect the customer service experience to reflect that.
If you’re looking to improve your small business’s customer service, consider implementing some of the tips outlined in this article. Your customers will be sure to appreciate the extra effort!
