There is no business without customers. If you are in business then you have customers and they can make or break your business. Many home based online companies would rather pull out their teeth than deal with customer support issues. That is tragic.
In the old days the main focus was how could you best serve your customers so that they remember you with high regard. Now you just want to put them through a call-service that is so poorly staffed that you rely on computers and recorded messages to wither away a worthwhile relationship in favour only attracting new customers.
To attract new customers there is a need for innovation and creative marketing. To keep them requires less innovation but good after purchase service and speedy communication. But what happens if you have great intentions but are overwhelmed?
First lets deal with an easy problem, systems. Poorly designed systems will drive any customer away because they forsee problems with the product if the company is poorly run. A good system need not be complicated but must be effective. A website to collect all customer queries must categorize and deal with FAQ’s accordingly. The questions can be collected or fabricated by predicting dilemmas your customers might face.
Secondly you need to subdivide your products or services to allow specific customers to send to the relevant email respondant. The responder may either specialise in that specific area or able to quickly obtain the relevant technical knowhow to assist the customer without wasting precious time.
The third is the human factor which is most important. Somebody in the company has to take responsibility for that specific customer. “You pick up the phone or email and it remains your responsiblity to solve that query to the Full satisfaction of that customer. No excuses.” Even if the needed expert in the company is on leave your staff should be able explain in full what will happen and when the matter will be resolved.
If you think this is too much then you should go to visit a big company and try to get help. It will quickly become apparent that nobody wants to take responsibility for your query and they are too busy to assist you. The end result may be “pinball shunting”. Infuriating and nausiating. And you can’t even shout at anyone because nobody claims responsibility.
The fourth customer service problem is flexibility. The right balance of flexibility will easy any tense situation. If a customer is unreasonable and demands more than they should, an effort can be made to reach an amicable middleground where both parties can feel fair. This problem can be tackled by policies and training staff to be able to negotiate with ease and confidence without bravado. Another aspect I shouldn’t neglect is how you deal with your staff. They should feel that they are the best at what they do and have pride in their work.
Have you seen the best staff members who abselutely love their work leaving at 4pm? Incentives only work so far and employers who better their staff and train them to be formidable reap the huge exponential rewards.
The fifth and last problem is follow up. Any query or complaint or refund or compliment must be followed up within reasonable time. The best way to avoid letigation is to treat a person as if they are significant. Which they are!
Otherwise they will show you how significant they are when they take out a lawsuit to sue your company. Nothing makes a person more significant in your life faster than when they are about to ruin your good company and put your family in destitution. Even if they have no chance of winning the lawsuit.
Hope these 5 points help you with your query. If you like to learn more about how you can build successful businesses you can join our 7 week online marketing course at Course-Marketing.com
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