Monday, July 25, 2016

CUSTOMER SERVICE: DELIVERING MORE THAN EXPECTED

In your business, you obviously want to keep your customers very satisfied with your products or services. Repeat business is the lifeblood of many businesses, and, lets face it, there are usually many choices out there to obtain your type of product or service.

Customers expect your product or service to be at a standard level of quality, and they expect it to be available on schedule. If you are not providing that, you are of course at extreme risk of losing clients.

Given that you are providing proper quality and are on time, what can you do over and above that to deliver really “wow” service?

Sometimes it can be the little things that make a big difference. Some examples:

1. Deliver earlier than expected.

2. Go out of your way to make sure that packaging is professional, properly labeled, and easy for your client to locate different elements of their order.

3. Make a follow up call or send an email to find out if your customer was fully satisfied with the product or service. (This seldom occurs in business, and we have found that it really pleasantly surprises our clients to have this happen.)

4. Insure that your staff are friendly and professional on the phone. (You know how it is perceived when you call a business and this is not the case.)

5. Keep your client informed during the progress of a project, when the production involves various steps and takes some time. Don’t wait for the client to call you to check up on progress. Take the initiative on this and prevent them from wondering or worrying. (You will know when this might be appropriate. It is especially useful with a new client who may not be familiar with the rhythm of your business and prepared to fully trust you as yet.)

None of these actions require much time or expense. However, they can make a huge difference in client retention and referrals/word of mouth exposure.

Besides these, what extra steps would be appropriate in your business?Think it over and implement them, and you will likely see great benefits.

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