Any business can provide good customer service. But if you want to build a highly profitable and successful enterprise, make sure your customer service is “beyond industry standards.”

While numerous factors are responsible for success, by far the easiest way to expand your business is to provide customers with customer service that creates a “wow” experience. This is akin to planting money seeds that will grow and yield harvests of profit.

Sadly, many business owners don’t provide the level of service they are capable of. Remember that all success in business is by design. It isn’t random. Give careful attention to how your business services your clients, and you will see more repeat business and increased referrals for your products and services.

One of the simplest strategies for improving your customer service is to listen to your clients. Your customers are the best source of ideas and inspiration available to you. Welcome compliments and criticisms. Make use of customer satisfaction surveys, which can be performed in person, on the phone, or online. Small businesses can learn a lot from their customers, so listen carefully to what they are saying, and more importantly, listen to what they are not saying!

Failure to follow up and to stay in touch with clients will kill repeat and long-term business faster than anything. People want to know they are valued. They want to hear from you and to feel that they have a relationship with you. Don’t forget! If you don’t connect with them regularly, your competition will. With customer loyalty being at an all-time low in most industries, people are most likely to buy where they feel the most valued and appreciated.

Develop a system of touch points to stay in contact with your client base. Post purchase follow up calls, company newsletters and promotions, greeting cards for birthdays and holidays are just a few of the many ways you can improve your follow up with your customers.

The best philosophy to adopt when it comes to customer service is to under promise and over deliver. Although this catch phrase is often overused, the concept is often missed by many businesses. In an effort to make more sales, many companies promise the stars, only to deliver the moon. This may give them a short term win, but it is truly a long term loss, as a disappointed consumer will think twice before buying from that company again. However, if you build a system where promises are made, and then exceeded, your clients will appreciate the “added value” that you provided them.

For example, if upon purchasing your product, the client is promised a 48 hour delivery cycle and receives it a day late, you have an unhappy customer. However, if the client is promised a 72 hour delivery cycle and receives his order in two days, you have earned serious points with that customer. Always under promise and over deliver, in every area of client interaction and you will increase repeat sales and client loyalty.

Consider preparing scripts for every client interaction. Scripts for phone conversations, face-to-face interactions, and email communications. Prepare scripts for every client important interaction. Consider these examples:

• They ask for help when you are busy
• They ask for help when you’re not busy
• They ask a question that you need to get more information on
• They want something you don’t have
• They want something that someone else in the company provides
• They are looking for something they can’t find

Prepare scripts and train your employees to use them. Every business owner has struggled with the varying degree of customer service offered by different employees. Level the playing field! Write down what you want them to say, and then train them to say it. Don’t leave it to chance. Put your most outgoing staff members in customer contact roles. When hiring for such positions, look for attitude first. You can always train for aptitude. And make sure that your staff understand the power of a smile and a friendly attitude.

Finally, how you handle client complaints can set you apart from your competitors. Mistakes happen in business. One can mitigate against them with the proper systems, but you can never eliminate them altogether. What is your fall back plan? How is your staff trained to handle customer dissatisfaction? An unhappy client is an opportunity to build trust and loyalty, if the situation is handled with care. To better handle customer complaints, teach your staff the following concepts:

• Listen attentively to the complaint without arguing or becoming defensive.
• Affirm that the complaint presented is a problem that needs resolution.
• Restate the complaint to the customer in your own words to ensure you understood them correctly. Ask clarifying questions if necessary.
• Apologize. This is so simple, yet often overlooked. There are few people who are unwilling to accept a sincere apology for a mistake or oversight. This demonstrates that you truly care and are committed to making it right.
• Provide a solution, i.e. a refund, a replacement, etc. Solve the problem at hand.
• Thank them for bringing the matter to your attention so that you can improve as a business. By making you aware of the problem, they have helped you better your company and its products and services.

There are many other strategies that can be deployed to create a “wow” customer experience. The key is to take an honest look at your business and evaluate how you rate in terms of your ETDBW (easy to do business with). Consider enlisting the help of someone who is a stranger to your staff to do a mock run-through of your customer experience. What you find might surprise you!

Exceed your customers’ expectations, and you will keep them coming back.

“My business creates a “wow” experience for my clients and regularly exceeds their expectations.”

(Rate yourself 1-10)  

Eric Deschamps – Business Coach & Advisor, Ottawa