Army of One: Customer Service Tips for the Small Business Owner

Army of One: Customer Service Tips for the Small Business Owner

When creating a small business, it can seem like there’s a lot to consider. From legally forming your company with the help of a website like yourcompanyformations.co.uk to considering how you’re going to serve your customers, there is a lot to decide. However, small business owners aren’t alone in this. A lot of people struggle with starting their company and attracting clientele to their business. Of course, one of the best ways to improve customer numbers is through word of mouth. By giving existing customers great service, they’re more likely to recommend your business to their friends and family. That’s why customer service is so important. Customer service is a critical component that can completely undermine your great product. According to Forbes, businesses in the United States lose $62 billion due to poor customer service. As a small business owner, what are you supposed to do if even the big brands struggle with customer service? You could start by looking into a site like https://www.salesforce.com/products/service-cloud/what-is-customer-service/ to give smaller businesses, or any business, tips on how to grow and improve your customer service skills.

This article will lay out some tips to keep your customers happy and buying from you whenever they can.

Be Available on Many Outlets

With the rise of social media, today’s customers expect you to be available on a variety of different channels. This means that in order to meet your audience where they are, along with your small business website, you have to be on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and more. If you don’t have or haven’t been paying attention to your social media accounts, it’s about time to start. Social media is a much more effective method of communicating with your customers due to the immediate nature of the platform. Competition online can be fierce and therefore it is important to make sure that your social media platforms and website are all fully functional. Correspondingly, regarding your website, there are a number of steps you can take to make sure that your website is quick to load and does not suffer from a significant amount of downtime. For example, using a reliable web hosting service provider such as Bluehost can ensure that your website runs at its best. You can learn more about the benefits of using a web host like Bluehost by reading this makeawebsitehub review.

Make Timely Responses

When you have a problem with a business, like a faulty or damaged product, you will want a quick response time to your issue. Nothing is more frustrating than needing something from an organization and getting nothing. On the business side, it can really cost you. According to a survey from The Social Habit, 42 percent of respondents who have ever attempted to contact a brand, product or company through social media will expect a response time in under 60 minutes – and 32 percent expect one in under 30!

If you can’t afford to have a dedicated social media representative, then it’s up to you to pay attention to all of your channels and respond in a timely manner – that means making sure your notifications are turned on!

Ask for Feedback

You can’t possibly hope to improve without being aware of where your opportunities are located within your business. You may be too close to your business to see any potential flaws in the user experience. A customer feedback survey is a great way to get a solid view of what the customer’s experience with your brand was like. Did they find your website useful and intuitive or clunky and awkward? Did the product make putting up with a bad website worth it? What specific areas of the website could use an update? But if feedback gets out of control you might want to know how to remove google review

There are a great many number of ways to create a customer feedback questionnaire, so find what’s right for yours and ask customers to fill it out after making a purchase. For example, if your business is to sell your furniture online, after a client buys a side table or nightstand, ask them to fill out a short survey about their experience.

Respond to Negative Criticism

According to the Local Consumer Review Survey, a whopping 84 percent of people trust online reviews as much a personal recommendation. Any critique, good or bad, can and will impact your profit margins. This is why responding to customer service requests in a timely fashion is absolutely critical to your business. It only takes an instant for someone to post something negative about your brand and another instant for hundreds (possibly thousands) to see and form an opinion about your brand. Your business will look engaged if they are seen to be actively trying to repair or remedy the situation with the dissatisfied person.

Due to the viral nature of the internet, a poor response time or none at all, can spread like wildfire. Responding positively to negative feedback will help secure your reputation to potential customers.

Don’t forget customer service when you’re crafting your business plan. You must remember that without them your business will flounder, so take care of them!