Customers are the lifeblood of any business, without them, you might as well close your shop. They are the reason you work so hard and keep
fine-tuning your skills, products and services, to satisfy your customers. They are the reason we rack our brains to create sales funnels which put our offers in their faces in ways that are hard to resist.
If you are just starting, and getting potential customers to buy your business or service needs mastery. If you are already in business, having repeat customers means what you are selling is worth it. If you keep satisfying them, your business grows, if they are unsatisfied, you are out of business!
What is good customer service?
Customer service is beyond smiling at them though it is important too. It entails treating your customers in a manner that leaves them with no other option than doing business with you again.
People are known to pass over bigger shops to get to a smaller one or one less known because of how they are treated there.
Tips to turn your customers into your cheerleaders
- Be friendly: being friendly makes your customers comfortable with talking to you even beyond business.
- Inquire about their health: showing an interest in their personal lives without being nosy can endear you to them.
- Thank them for their patronage: don't let them walk away from your shop after purchasing without saying thank you. Even if it is an online business, a simple 'thank you' can go a long way.
- Be honest: don't over-inflate the price you sell to your customers because you want to make huge profits quickly. If they find that others are offering a lower price for the same product, you will lose them
- Be consistent: whether you are making sales or not, keep giving your business visibility.
- Appreciate them: appreciate your customers for choosing you over many others.
- Share a joke: as long as it won't hang limp or offend your customers, why not? You will also give them a reason to smile. They may be having a bad day.
- Pray for them: prayer does wonders. If you pray for them to prosper and be in health guess who will benefit in the long run? You, for being consistent.
- Check up on them from time to time: especially when you don't see them in a long while. It shows that you care beyond making money off of them.
- Pay them compliments: this will draw a smile from them and make them relaxed with you.
- Talk beyond business: discuss issues that are trending in politics, business, etc.
- Get involved in their lives: think of ways you can be relevant to them and not just get into their pockets.
- Deliver exactly what they order: don't try to outsmart your customers, it will only hurt your business, in the long run.
- Give freebies: who doesn't like freebies? If you are giving away branded items, even b
- Give them handwritten appreciation notes: be clear about what you are doing and why so that you don't give the wrong impression.
- Show interest in their personal lives: ask after their kids, how their business is going, etc.
- Smile: a Chinese process says, "If you cannot smile, don't open a shop." Smiling makes you approachable to your customers.
- Respect them: don't take them for granted and make them regret stopping by.
- Value them: you show how much value you have for a person by the way you treat them. Always be at your best.
- Excellent customer service: offer the best before, during and after-sales services.
- Discounts: a little discount here and there will not put you out of business but will keep your customers coming back.
- Free delivery: make it a little bit easier on your customers and save them the stress of your customers.
- Free services:
- Ask for feedback: measuring if your efforts are appreciated by customers will help you focus on what works for them.
- Answer questions cheerfully: don't answer their questions as if they are bothering you.
- Give advice: or get some from them.
- Offer an instalment payment plan: this will lighten the payment plan for your customers.
- Price reduction: do a price slash during special holidays like Christmas, new year, easter, and public holidays.
- Birthday surprise: showing an interest in their lives is a win.
- Waive delivery fees: people buy more when there is something free attached to them.
- Follow-up: This includes after-sales service, monitoring and evaluation.
- Monitor delivery process: be actively involved in your customer's order until it gets to them.
- Send thank you messages: it could be a text message or an email. A little appreciation will bring more patronage.
- Give bonuses: who doesn't like an extra product you did not buy with your money?
- Souvenirs: tote bags, caps, mugs, and pencil holders are superb to keep your customers aware of what you offer.
- Don't disappoint them: try your best to meet deadlines and delivery promises.
- Offer snack and drink as they wait to collect their products.
These are some of the ways of treating your customers as 'king.' How do you treat your customers to keep them coming back for more?
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