By Dwayne Charrington
“I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
When you provide exceptional experiences to your customers, they are bound to feel good about your brand, regardless of whether it’s a small business or a large enterprise. They tend to come back to you for more, and over a period of time, become natural advocates of your business.
If this starts happening, consider that you are excelling at customer service, but if it’s the opposite, meaning your customers are drifting away from you, then you should rather pull up your socks.
It’s natural for you to get confused regarding what is good customer service and what is not.
The answer to it is simple.
Customer service is the weapon that can come to your rescue in the darkest of days. Use it cautiously, and you can manage to build your own little space in the lives of your customers. Go wrong with it and get ready for the consequences. The importance of customer service cannot be ignored. If it can bring you enormous success, it can also dig a grave for your business.
If you plunge into this arena, without knowing why customer service is important for your firm, you will not be able to give 100 percent to it.
This article will answer all your questions and give you a clear perspective on why customer service is important for your small business.
#1 Increases Your Company’s Revenue
Being a small business, it’s obvious that you have a limited budget, and if providing excellent customer service can bring in more revenue, then why not?
It’s a fact that the status of your bank account rules any business decision you take. The correlation between customer service and revenue cannot be declined. The better your customer service, the higher the chances of getting repeat buyers, registering more sales, and increasing your revenue.
Ultimately, it’s the customers you work for – if they are happy, your business is bound to grow.
#2 Improves Brand Image
How your target audience perceives your brand reflects the image you have created in their minds. This image, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative, is not built overnight. It takes its own time and starts building right from day zero.
If you keep crafting excellent experiences for customers right from the start, it surely will add brownie points to your account, giving you an edge over the competition, improving your brand image, and eventually bringing you more customers. One positive experience can lead a customer to talk about it to ten other people, leading to word of mouth publicity that brings your brand in a positive light.
Also, customers have scores of options these days, so switching brands is way easier than it was before. Getting a recommendation from a friend is preferred as it gives a sense of confidence to customers about a firm, helping them make the decision faster. It’s like a chain reaction. Customers tell their friends about your brand both in case of a negative or positive experience, and they, in turn, tell more people about it, and the process goes on.
Many times, companies underestimate the power of ‘one’ customer. But, mind it, one negative experience can lead your customers to burst out on social media or talk about it in their social circles, which can significantly impact your firm’s health in the long run.
#3 Increases Customer Retention
It’s your firm’s offerings that attract customers, but it’s the service and experience you provide that retains them. Attracting customers is only half the job done. It’s when you are able to keep customers with your brand, satisfied and happy, for a long time, that determines your success.
You sell a high-quality product to a customer, which is great. But your customer service division is not up to the mark, so every time clients have a query or need you when something goes wrong, all they get is delayed responses, inaccurate information, or worst of all, no answer at all.
Do you think that, in a situation like this, customers will stick to your brand? You know the answer well.
Besides your product’s quality and the value it provides to customers, what’s even more important is customer service, as that will ultimately determine your relationship with customers.
#4 Customers Get Ready to Pay More
If your brand has created a name for itself and provides compelling services and experiences, it’s obvious that your customers will want to continue buying from you, even if there is a change in pricing.
There are two major reasons why a little change here and there won’t impact customers, and they will stick to you no matter what.
- Customers are satisfied with your offerings, and they don’t want the hassle of shifting to a competitor and starting a new association from scratch
- Customers have confidence that you will continue providing them improved services and excellent experiences
Statistics show that a whopping 50% of customers will purchase more frequently after one positive experience. If we are to go by this figure, delivering exceptional experiences can increase your sales significantly. Even if there is a slight change in your pricing structure, it will neither affect the sales nor your relationship with customers.
#5 Scope for Marketing Increases
When you are proactive with your customer service efforts, it reflects positively on your brand as customers know that you are working hard to provide them what they need, even before they ask for it.
When you go to such an extent for your customers, it keeps them satisfied and happy. Besides, it opens doors to various opportunities wherein you can market any new product you have launched or new features you have rolled out.
Take, for instance, some of your customers have been facing a specific issue, and the new feature you have launched is designed to address the same. In a situation like this, if you have the best small business help desk at your disposal, then your support staff can search for all and inform customers about the new feature roll-out.
This approach enables you to –
- Resolve customers’ queries
- Inform them about your new product feature
And that’s how customer service helps you market your offerings to your customers.
Customer Service Examples
Now let’s look at how big brands ,like Tesla and Adobe, have nailed the art of customer service and are still going strong in it.
Tesla
Tesla wasn’t the big shot car manufacturer since its inception, but it rose to significant heights quickly and is now competing with the likes of Porsche. Why? Because it realized the importance of customer service early on in its career.
It’s quite evident by its extremely altruistic customer care support. Tesla supports customers wherever they are, ensuring that they are never left alone in times of need. In fact, the company has managed to achieve a loyal customer base, with the overall customer satisfaction rating standing tall at 90%.
Adobe
The image below gives a glimpse of how Adobe addresses customers’ concerns. Here Adobe had posted an apology about a technical issue, via tweet, even before customers started having problems with the bug.
Customers understand that technology can be on the downside at times. What they need to know from your end is that you acknowledge the mistake and make amends. This makes them lighthearted towards the issue.
Excellent Customer Service – a Competitive Differentiator
There was a time when the quality and price of a product used to be the ultimate competitive differentiators for companies. As time passed and customers became more informed, customer service and experience started gaining importance. These have now become crucial brand differentiators that can help companies surpass their competitors and stand out among the crowd.
What’s even more convincing about this is the fact that 60% of customers stop doing business with a brand in case they get a poor customer service experience. This is why the importance of customer service cannot be ignored.
As the market is flooded with firms that paint a promising picture, customers are spoilt for choice, and switching brands has become a breeze.
So even if you fail at giving your best as far as customer service is concerned, it’s your competitors who are going to benefit the most.
And you don’t want that to happen. Even if you are a small business with a limited budget, you can still manage to have a small customer service staff initially, and then expand it as your customer base widens, and more queries start pouring in.
Author Bio
Dwayne Charrington is a technical writer currently associated with ProProfs Help Desk. He possesses hands-on experience in writing for the customer service industry. Dwayne is insightful when it comes to industrial challenges, emerging customer service trends, and how businesses overcome related challenges. Dwayne likes drawing connections between different industries and entities while designing his blogs.