Have you ever visited an establishment, received awful customer service and vowed never to return?
If you are like many, you may have aired your frustrations by leaving the business and shared your negative experience with others.
On average, dissatisfied customers will tell approximately six people about a poor experience they have encountered in a business.
Unfortunately, this results in negative word-of-mouth advertising for the company. Sadly, the business may not even be aware that they are losing out on sales.
As an entrepreneur, how can you ensure that this doesn’t happen in your business?
The following five tips will ensure that you are able to provide a high standard of customer service in your business.
- Ask your customers what they want and expect. You can do this through surveys, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, polls, social media tools or just by having informal conversations with your customers.
- Listen to what they have to say. Once you receive customer feedback, recognize that you have listened and understood by implementing service standards in line with the identified expectations. Ensure that your team members adhere to it at all times.
- Engage regularly with your customers. Follow up with your customers from time-to-time to determine their level of satisfaction. Often dissatisfied customers won’t be forthcoming with their concerns. By reaching out and asking for input, you will make your customers feel valued and create opportunities to share experiences in a non-confrontational way.
- Learn from your competition. Pay close attention to how your competition handles customer service. You can do this by becoming the customer yourself. If you are known by your competition then consider having somebody do the investigation work instead. By doing so, you will have a different perspective about customer service and it can help you develop new techniques to provide a competitive advantage that sets you apart.
- Implement strategies for dealing with difficult situations. Ensure that you and your team are equipped to deal with difficult customers and situations. Implement customer-focused methods for diffusing confrontational situations and develop strategies to turn issues into opportunities.
To improve customer service within your business, contact us at info@karenjonesconsulting.com.
