A great level of customer service is essential to both attracting new customers and keeping your current ones. With great customer service, your current customers will sing the praises of your business and will not only return themselves, but will also help you attract new customers through word of mouth.
As such, improving your customer service is vital. In this post, we’ll talk through four ways that you can do just that.
Train Your Staff
You might know what good customer service looks like, but does every member of your staff? Don’t just assume they do, act.
You should train very member of staff you have on what you mean by customer service. This should include everything from:
- How to welcome people to your store
- How to answer the phone
- How to act on the till
- How to deal with customer complaints
- How to sell to customers in the store
- How to answer emails
This training leads us on to point two…
Create Guidelines for All
You shouldn’t just tell them what you expect, but you should ensure that every member of staff knows their responsibilities. You should also ensure that they all have access to the exact same information.
By creating customer services guidelines, you can achieve three things:
- All of your members of staff will know exactly what they should be doing
- All of your customers should achieve the same level of care and customer service
- You can point out to members of staff where they’re going wrong, what they’re doing well and what they can improve in their 121.
Outsource Key Responsibilities to Experts
Part of being a successful SME owner is accepting that sometimes there are people who are more qualified to do certain jobs than you are.
Specialist jobs such as IT infrastructure, courier services and web design should always be outsourced. Why? Because they work better when they’re designed and run by experts. Not only does this free up your time, but it also provides the customer with a better experience, increasing your chances of return custom.
Create a Website and Social Media Presence
Finally, make sure your customers can find you, as those who can’t find you easily will certainly look elsewhere.
By creating a website and social media channels, you’ll give yourself an online presence. Ecommerce sites will allow you to attract new customers by selling online but, if you’re not up for a venture this big, a basic website where customers can learn about the company, access your address and get your phone number will be sufficient.
So go on, give these four top tips ago today and improve your customer service levels.
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