How is your customer service affecting your public relations and marketing?

Thurs, Jul 31, 2014

Business Buzz

Very often in adverts, we hear ‘we offer good customer service’ but how many businesses really understand the meaning of good customer service and its effect on their company’s image?

Remember your customer service function has an element of public relations to it. Every touch point with your customers has the potential to either build loyalty or create dissatisfaction and today with the advent of social media, the people you please or infuriate with your customer service, have the means to voice their feelings. Each time a customer walks into a store/office and is ignored by your staff who is caught up in their private conversation or if they are placed on hold for an extended period or if you over promise but under deliver or if they are told different things by different representatives or if they simply don’t get their issues fairly resolved, unfortunately you don’t just harm that one interaction – you hurt your relationship with that customer. Your reputation is everything. How your business is perceived affects business success; your image is cultivated by what you do and not just by what you say.{{more}}

With this in mind, is your business spending some of its marketing dollars retaining and maintaining the customer relationships you already have? Let’s face it, in these economic times, won’t you like to increase your sales without increasing your marketing budget?

A customer or client may stop using your products or services or may not visit your establishment because they felt you didn’t care, they had an unresolved complaint, they felt your pricing was too high or unfair or they took a competitor’s offer. One of the key components in marketing and business growth is to spend a lot of your time and effort nurturing customer relationships so that you acquire business from existing clients and customers. It’s important to try to satisfy them with the right products and services, supported by the right promotion. Long-term client and customer loyalty is a long-term challenge that you must strive for every day and with every transaction no matter how big or small. Businesses that fail to nurture and retain their customer base ultimately fail – you spend twice as much to get new clients as you will in maintaining your existing customer base and you will also be limited in your ability to attract new clients if you can’t hold on to and satisfy your existing customers and clients.

Here are some helpful tips:

– Know who is boss: Your purpose is to service customer needs and you can only do so effectively if you know what they want. Listen to them attentively and never forget that the customer pays the bills and makes your job possible. Customers don’t buy products or services; they buy good feelings and solutions to problems. The more you know your customers, the better you become at anticipating their needs. Communicate regularly so that you are aware of problems or upcoming needs.

– Make it easy to do business with your company:

Help customers understand your systems. You may think that you have an effective system in place but if customers don’t understand it, they can get confused, impatient and angry. Take time to explain.

– Apologize! Apologize! –

When something goes wrong, apologize. The customer may not always be right, but the customer must always win. Deal with problems immediately and let customers know what you have done. Make it simple for customers to complain. Value their complaints; as much as you may dislike it, it gives an opportunity to improve.

– Delight your customers –

Go beyond what is expected. The future of all companies lies in keeping customers happy so think of ways to elevate yourself above the competition. What can you give that they cannot get elsewhere? What can you give customers that is totally unexpected?

– Value your employees:

Employees are your internal customers and need a regular dose of appreciation. Thank them and find ways to let them know how important they are. Treat your employees with respect and chances are they will have a higher regard for customers.

Hopefully this article has made you think about how you are doing when it comes to customer service. So, will you leave a lasting impression and create a loyal customer or will you push them into the arms of your competitor?

Candice Sealey is Founder of Ignite! Full service Marketing & PR Consultancy Company offering tailored services to help businesses succeed. Let Ignite! Create new sparks and get better results for your business. If you have a question or if you would like a particular topic to be covered in one of these articles, email us igniteresults@gmail.com

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