Small Business Customer Service

Companies of all sizes are realizing that their strongest selling point can sometimes boil down to treating customers as they would like to be treated - or better. "Consumers are beginning to feel that their needs haven't been met.

The growing significance of meeting / exceeding - customer demands for quality service has special implications for small businesses. It is in this arena that small companies can, in the least expensive way, set themselves apart from the competition.

In fact, a recent three-year study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in Washington, D.C. showed that small businesses which put heavy emphasis on customer service were more likely to survive and succeed than competitors who emphasized such advantages as lower prices or type of product.

Golden Rule #1: Put the Customer First

Quality customer service begins with your employees. One must set standards, then make sure everyone in the company understands them. Reward employees for achieving your service goals. Be sure to seek out and solve any annoyances they might have that could lead to poor morale. An employee with a complaint cannot be completely effective in dealing with customers. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers.

If your employees are not customer-oriented, no standards or goals will change that. Concentrate on hiring people who embody the quality of service for which we strive. It is difficult to teach someone to be helpful and serve others if he or she is misanthropic to begin with. Hiring the best people means trusting them. Your employees should be able to do what is necessary to make the customer happy without fear of reprisal.

Small Business Policies and procedures are helpful only as guides toward an end result. When employees run out of possibilities to make the customer happy, they must have the latitude to improvise to make it right. Most employees operate in a state of fear that their own generosity with a customer will be viewed as foolishness by their boss. This situation will stifle flexible customer service."

Golden Rule #2: Stay Close to Your Customers

Smartest companies, ask questions and listen carefully to the answers. Firms train their employees to focus on what the customer is saying, then tailor products or services to meet customer needs. Knowing what's on the customer's mind is the smartest thing to do.

According to the Customer Service Institute, 65% of a company's business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied.

Losing a customer is even more expensive. According to studies by the Technical Assistance Research Programs Institute, 91% of unhappy customers will never again buy from a company that has displeased them; they will also voice their dissatisfaction to at least seven other people.

There is no substitute for getting out and learning from the customers themselves how you might serve them better. The best business owners are not only committed to staying close to their clientele, but also identify with them. They give their customers the level of service they themselves would expect to receive.

Moreover, a good relationship with customers necessitates paying attention to every link in the distribution chain; this means listening to everyone who helps get your products to market and asking them for suggestions on improving your service. Be sure to take advantage of feedback from employees, especially those whose everyday job is dealing with customers. They can serve as tremendous reservoirs of information.

Golden Rule #3: Pay Attention to the Little Details

Many owners search for a special touch that will make them stand out from the crowd. Discount coupons, longer hours, home delivery, or free coffee, for example, all show customers you want to take that extra step to please them.

Some of the most effective extras are really very basic adages of conducting good business, although customers are often surprised when they take place. These include answering the phone by the third ring, treating customers respectfully and courteously at all times, greeting them by name, promptly answering their questions, and, if you can't, getting back to them with an answer as quickly as possible, and manufacturing high-quality goods that work the first time and keep working.

Five Rules of Customer Care

Critical to keeping customers happy is understanding them and the way they think. For example, customers do business on the basis of emotional desire - they want what they want when they want it. Customers also tend to gravitate toward a company or group of people they like. Most customers also have a strong tendency to stick with businesses with which they are familiar, and are slow to change buying habits unless given a very good reason.

However, when they are displeased, even by a small disappointment or discourteous word, various surveys have revealed that customers tell from seven to eleven people about their dissatisfaction.

An important key to serving customers well is this: don't try to change them. Here are five specific steps to help you take full advantage of the critical element of customer care:

1. Conduct your own survey. Profit from the ideas, suggestions, and complaints of your present and former customers. Talk and meet with your customers. Ask questions. Learn their attitudes, what they want, and what they dislike.
2. Check employees' telephone manners periodically. This link is particularly important for small businesses, as bad telephone handling can undermine other constructive efforts to build a profitable enterprise.
3. Rules such as prompt answering and a cheerful attitude of helpfulness are of critical importance. Have someone whose voice is unfamiliar play the role of a customer or prospective customer, preferably a difficult one.
4. Make customer service a team effort. Use group meetings, memos, posters, and in-house publications to build customer consciousness throughout the organization. Continually drive home the crucial rule that getting and holding customers requires team play; invite employees' ideas.
5. Extend your efforts after hours. It's the friendly feelings people have that draw them to you and your business. Take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere of social occasions or a neighborly chat over the back fence to turn friends into customers or to reinforce the loyalty of existing ones.