Nicole Leinbach Reyhle is the Founder and Publisher of Retail Minded, the Co-Founder of the Independent Retailer Conference and a regular contributor to various publications. Additionally, Reyhle is the Author of the book “Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Retail Business” from McGraw-Hill and has been the Spokesperson for Small Business Saturday from American Express since 2014. Follow Reyhle on Twitter at @RetailMinded.
There’s a saying in life about the “good old days” that means a lot to some folks and nothing to others. When pressed for what it really means, however, it’s something everyone can appreciate – representing the nostalgia of past memories, favorite past times and the idea that what has already happened is better than what is happening now. Among those past memories that many people hold dearly include customer care that is stronger than what customer service is perceived to be today.
By definition, customer service is the delivery of service to customers before, during and after purchase. The challenge, of course, is measuring the success of this based on the employee delivery of customer service and the consumer perception of how it was delivered. Keeping this in mind, are you confident in what your customers perceive your customer service to be?
To help strengthen your customer care, consider the below tips and how implementing what is perceived as old fashioned customer service can actually be the best way to enhance your modern selling experience.
#1: Customer Service Must Be Included During All Stages of the Customer Experience.
There are three stages to customer service, with the first happening before a consumer even makes a purchase. The next stage takes place during an actual sale and the final stage takes place once a purchase has been made and delivered. When you reflect on each of these stages, the pre-purchase experience typically gets the most attention since this is when sellers aim to get customers to make a decision to buy. Following this stage, customer service is often overlooked. By recognizing that all three stages deserve equal customer care, you are one step closer to achieving old fashioned customer service in today’s modern and competitive selling environment.
#2: Five Star Reviews Should Be Aimed For When It Comes to Customer Service.
When you reflect on your customer service, do you consider your performance to be outstanding? Average? Satisfactory? Or worse… not good at all? While your opinion matters, the opinions that matter even more are those of customers. What rating would your buyers give you when it comes to customer care? If you aren’t regularly receiving five stars, your customer service standards are not as strong as they can be. Even despite outstanding products and a reputation that gives your five stars for your work performance – whether it be voice over work, graphic design, website creations or anything else – unless you also gain five stars for customer service you have room to improve. The added benefit of gaining five stars for customer care and product performance is that your customer testimonials will undoubtedly stand out among the rest… helping you gain even more sales.
#3: Going Above & Beyond Can Help Strengthen Customer Service Perception.
As a designer, artist, writer or any other professional, it’s possible that you are able to add additional features to a service without it compromising too much of your time. These extra services could include an alternative option for buyers to review or a free of charge revision request, but either way the idea is to deliver something that is unexpected and will offer value to your customer. What this should not do, however, is compromise your time so much that it impacts your performance and earnings. Going above and beyond is perceived as an added value to customer service and overall customer care, so consider what you can do for each of your customers.
Finally, when you reflect on how old fashioned customer care can help you strengthen your modern selling experience, also consider that when it comes to being old fashioned there are standards typically set in place. What are your business standards? Set them high, make sure you follow through with them and in return, enjoy strong customer engagement and sales. As it turns out, the good old days may just be around the corner.
Have any tips to providing your customers with great service? Tell us in the comments below!
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