What Is Great Customer Service And Why Does Your Business Need It?

When starting a new business two things concern you most: product and growth. But you’re forgetting something.

In fact, you’re forgetting the core of your business, the customer. Neglecting proper care of your incoming and existing customers plummets your sales, profits, and in the end, your business.

Don’t make this mistake.

Many businesses struggle to champion customer satisfaction instead of profits. This mindset leads to their demise in today’s cutthroat business economy.

Why?

Starting a business today proves a simple process with few barriers to entry. This means more competition. To “make it” you must stand out to consumers.

Providing exceptional value to consumers remains a core tenant for successful businesses. To stand out you must consider your customer first.

“What is great customer service?” you ask?

In this article, we’ll answer the questions “what is great customer service” and “why is great customer service important to my business?”.

Let’s dive in!

What Is Great Customer Service?

Great customer service goes beyond profits and short-term gains of making a quick sale.

Do you think about the long-term effects of your actions? Or do you get distracted by the short-sighted idea of a payday?

Great customer service involves exercising the former. It’s about treating your consumer like family. Great customer service is providing the customer service that you’d like to experience.

How To Provide Excellent Customer Service

A complete answer to “what is great customer service” requires a description of some exceptional customer service practices.

The following examples provide you with a few suggestion for implementing great customer service that will help you stand out from the crowd.
 

Call Your Customer By Name

Calling a customer by name creates a personal bond. It makes your customer feel as though you care about them and their situation.

Whether your correspondence happens face-to-face, via e-mail, newsletter or phone call always address the customer by name.

This practice contributes to a sense of value and trust in your brand. Value and brand trust increase with the longevity of your business.
 

Don’t Nickel And Dime Your Customer

When growing your business think about long-term relationship building. Focusing on short-term profits will get you nowhere fast.

When considering the details about shipping, returns and cancellations, avoid nickel and diming the consumer.

Exercise compassion and understanding. Craft policies that work for your customer even in negative situations. They’ll want to come back.

Remember that creating a sense of goodwill and trust always proves more important and effective than charging a fee.
 

Assemble An Exceptional Customer-Facing Team

Customer contact points make or break your business.

Any answer to “what is great customer service” includes the people who execute that customer service.

Your front desk personnel or executive assistant serve as the first point of contact for many customers. They create a negative or positive image in the mind of your customer even in the smallest of interactions.

Your staff needs to exhibit warmth. Great customer service means a staff that is happy and willing to answer questions.

In an ideal world, they carry a passion for your business or your industry.

Equip your staff with the mental, emotional, physical and digital tools they need to handle customer complaints with ease. This requires proper training.

Taking for granted proper training of your staff could result in your downfall as a company.
 

Provide Many Means Of Contact

Is your company easy to reach?

Consider this the foundation of the answer to “what is great customer service”.

Provide your e-mail and phone number on your website. Check your e-mail regularly.

Make sure you’re active on at least one major social media platform.

Can’t decide which one to choose? Consider Twitter. Most people use Twitter to voice complaints.

Responding via twitter allows for the most visibility to users on the platform.
 

Adopt A Fast Response Time

It’s always best to respond to your consumer right away. If you can’t respond right away, do so within 24 hours. Waiting any longer sends a message that you aren’t listening and that you don’t care.
 

Invest In On-Site Chat

If your budget allows, consider incorporating chat into your site.

90% of customers consider live chat helpful. Two-thirds of customers tend to return to a site if it offers live chat.

Live chat allows your company to respond to feedback or questions with immediacy.

Your users will appreciate the effort. They’ll feel valued. They’ll keep coming back.

On-site chat helps your staff avoid unpleasant customer experiences.

On-site chat allows you access to a closer look at your user’s experience. A poor experience deters customers.
 

Own Up To Your Mistakes

Take responsibility for your mistakes. If you don’t, you risk customers perceiving you as untrustworthy.

Owning up to and fixing your mistakes demonstrates a level of standards and integrity in your work.

We’ve answered, “what is great customer service”. Let’s take a look at some necessary skills every employee should demonstrate.

Necessary Skills For Great Customer Service

Your employees need a number of soft skills to exercise great customer service. These include:

• patience
• attentiveness
• clear communication skills
• thorough product knowledge
• ability to use positive language
• time management skills
• understanding
• goal oriented
• a willingness to learn

Now let’s discuss the importance of great customer service to your business.

The Importance Of Great Customer Service

Great customer service impacts the success of your business in many ways.
 

The Expense of Customer Acquisition Exceeds Customer Retention

It costs five times more to attract a new customer than it does to keep an old one.

Do whatever it takes to keep your customers happy. They’ll continue to do business with you and you won’t be awash in expenses for luring in new customers.
 

Existing Customers Buy Your Goods

Convincing new customers to buy your goods proves difficult.

The probability of selling to a new customer ranges from 5 to 20 percent. The probability of selling to an old customer ranges from 60 to 70 percent.

Customers want to work with and buy goods or services from someone they trust.  Great customer service ensures customers keep coming back.
 

Strengthen Your Brand And Reputation

Great customer service results in happy customers. Happy customers leave positive reviews of your business.

The popularity of online review platforms continues to grow.

Positive reviews solidify your brand in the minds of customers looking for your type of goods or services.
 

Word-of-Mouth Advertising

You can’t buy word-of-mouth advertising. As luck would have it, word-of-mouth can impact your business more than you know.

People listen to their friend’s advice. We’re more likely to trust our friends than an online review or advertisement.

Great customer service creates a group of people who engage in free advertising for you.
 

Reduction Of Problems

Provide great customer service from beginning to end to avoid problems with sales and potential legal trouble.

If you neglect customer service, you can bet on encountering problems along the way.
 

You’ll Keep Customers Longer

When they experience great customer service, people stick around.

They’ll work with you any chance they get. Customers would rather work with someone they’ve worked with before than to find someone else.
 

Improved Employee Turnover

Your employees notice the way you treat customers. Your actions resonate with them even if you don’t notice it.

An employer who practices great customer service makes their employees proud to work as part of your team. Motivation is crucial for the success of your company.

Exercise great customer service and your employees will want to stand by your side.
 

Increased Longevity

Four of every ten businesses last longer than 10 years. In other words, 96% of businesses fail.

Your customers remain the core of your business. Ignoring their needs damages your potential for growth.

Without customers, your business cannot function. Without customers, your business will fail.
 

Opens The Door To New Opportunities

Great customer service builds brands with integrity. It contributes to the growth of your brand. It shows a desire to build a company that adds value to its customer’s lives.

Successful businesses share these values. They’ll want to do business with you. This means partnerships, collaborations, and more.

Conclusion

As you can see, a successful business needs great customer service to grow. Making it in today’s business environment requires more than attention to product and sales.

You must stand out to your customers. Do this by offering great customer service.

Great customer service involves treating your customer with compassion, appreciation, and understanding.

The level of customer service your provide can hamper or bolster your business. Make sure your staff stays up to date on how to give great customer service.

Now you’re ready to use these tips to grow your business not only in size but in value.