Janeane's World: Published By James, Davis, and Associates

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Customer Service Matters- Make Yours Excellent

Customer service matters, make yours excellent. No matter what your business type, you must be concerned with customer service. That is how your business becomes the best and most profitable it can be.

Customer service is important and can be the difference between being profitable and operating at a loss.

I have been an entrepreneur for most of my adult life. This means that I earn my living by working to provide others with what they want in a way that pleases them. Like most entrepreneurs, I grew up hearing the expression, “the customer is always right.” Interestingly, I never believed that expression was true.

However, I know and know full well that it is important to provide excellent customer service from the time before the sale until well after the sale is made. In many cases it is a smarter idea to compete based on customer service rather than on price. For example, if you are selling a product or service that you do not have a monopoly over, other players in the market can lower their prices each time you lower your price. In fact, some companies with deep pockets have operated at a loss for years in order to drive competitors out of the market. Realistically speaking, there is only so much you can do to lower prices and remain profitable.

Prices can be lowered and lowered until an entrepreneur is literally paying customers to take the products or services offered. This may take business away from competitors in the short run, but this is not a sustainable business model. Competing on price alone is a hard way to do business. It teaches customers that all you have to offer is price savings and when that is absent from the equation, customers have no reason to come to a business. When you compete on customer service, you teach customers that they matter to you and that their existence is important to you. This is the start of a beautiful relationship.

Customer service is a weird and different type of arena. Many customer service policies are free of charge and can be done by any business no longer how long a company has been in business or how profitable the company’s operations. For example, employees can answer the phone with a smile.

There is something about a smile that translates over the telephone and makes the person on the receiving end feel good about an interaction. When customers walk into your place of business and are greeted with a smile by employees, the customers feel welcome, at ease and are more likely to make purchases of products and services. These things do not cost a dime, but may lead to increased dollars for your business.

 


If you want to read more about succeeding as an entrepreneur, check out:

Be Thankful for Your Business – It Provides Jobs — Even if you a solo operation with no employees, your business decisions matter far and beyond your business. Click here to read more.

and

Customer Service Matters, So Make Yours Excellent – Customers help make your business go around so treat them right! Click here to read more.

Also, check out our Confidence Tip of the Day YouTube channel for hundreds of videos on creating the confidence you need to succeed.


 

Customer service matters. Good customer service makes people feel good about coming to your business and doing business with you. That is good for your customers and it is good for you. The more customers like doing business with you, the more business they will do with you and the more profitable your business can be.

It should come as no surprise that customers are more likely to do business with companies that make them feel good about themselves and the purchasing decision. In fact given a choice between two companies one with a lower price and one with a better customer service policy, most customers will choose the better customer service policy. It is in your best interest to treat your customers as if they are important to you, because they really are important to you!

When deciding on a customer service policy, look at your business objectively to determine if you give customers a good service experience. Before you create or revise your customer service policy, you must decide what good customer service means for you and your organization.You must determine what you want your customers to think of when they think of your company. Do customers think:

  • your company appreciates their business
  • stands by its word
  • is reliable
  • will resolve problems quickly and amicably
  • will be around 5, 10 or more years in the future

If the answers to these questions are positive, things are off to a good start. If you cannot honestly answer these questions in a positive manner, you know it is time for improvement and you have some areas to start improving as soon as possible.

 

It is important to understand that good customer service starts with the entrepreneur and flows from there. So before you create a customer service program or revamp the one you currently have, start giving good customer service. Your employees look to you for cues on how to behave and how to treat customers. Keep in mind that how you treat your employees will have an impact on how your employees treat customers.

If you are rude, mean, condescending or otherwise inappropriate with your employees they will be more likely to be slack in their customer service efforts. When you treat your employees poorly and then talk about the importance of customer service, it sets a dangerous precedent. It makes it appear that employees only need to provide good customer service in order not to get caught or get into trouble. This is a very different idea than having employees who look at providing good customer service as something you do all the time, even when there is no one in management around to see and reward it.

As an entrepreneur, start customer service with the service you provide to your employees. Do you greet your employees when you see them each day? Do your employees feel comfortable talking with you? Are you the type of entrepreneur an employee can speak with about problems on the job without concerns for continued employment? Do employees so you as wise, principled and intelligent? Or do employees see you as a petty dictator incapable of handling criticism? When employees see that you give good service to them, they are more likely to believe you when you talk about how important good customer service.

If you do not have a customer service policy, get one now! Create a customer service policy and share it with your employees. If you have a customer service policy, look at it objectively and ask the following questions:

  • is the customer service policy in writing
  • do all employees have a copy of the customer service policy
  • are employees trained in all areas of the customer service policy on a regular basis
  • what is the focus of the policy
  • do customers know about your customer service policy
  • is the customer service policy being followed on a regular basis

When objectively looking at your customer service policy, look at things from a customer’s perspective. Ask the following questions:

  • do customers come back to my organization first for products and services whenever they need them
  • do customers refer friends and family to my organization
  • do customers come to my organization by choice or because there are no options
  • do customers send thank you letters to my organization
  • do customers smile when entering and leaving my place of business

Take time today to work on your customer service policies. Think about each area of business from the time customers find you on the internet, until the time they are sitting at home using or thinking about your product or service about your product and service. In each area, make a list of things you can do to make the experience better for your customers.

Is your website easy to navigate? When customers call you on the phone can they reach a person or must they leave voice mail messages and yell at automated prompts? If a customer has a question after the sale, are you available and happy to be of assistance? Customer service is not a one and done type of activity, it is something you must work on regularly in order to keep your customers satisfied and your business profitable.

Every business has customers and those customers should be treated as if they are valued, appreciated and desired. Customer service is the mechanism that makes that happen. It is, quite frankly, one of the most important areas of business for an entrepreneur, so the question for you this thrilling day is what area of customer service can you improve?

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