Merry Christmas Everyone

Deliver What You Promise for Good Customer Service

One of the quickest ways to upset a customer, or even lose them, is not to deliver what you promise.

A common saying is ‘Under Promise and Over Deliver’.

For example:

· If something normally takes 7 to 10 days, advise the customer it will take 10 days. What a nice surprise if they get it by day 8.
· If you promise a call back and it normally takes 24 to 48 hours, advise the customer it will take 48 hours. What a nice surprise if they get the call back within 24 hours.

Be honest with your customers and don’t make promises you can’t keep.

Problems do occur from time to time, so if that happens, make sure you advise the customer and keep them informed of the process.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

Customer Service - What are Customers Telling Us

Make it Simple

Deliver without letting me down

No Surprises

No confusion

Show genuine empathy

Be proactive in how you relate to me

Find a way to resolve things for me

Remember that you are not my priority

I have enough anxiety; help me reduce it

Help me reduce complexity

I want assurance you’re taking care of me

I want someone easy to deal with

I want someone who understands

I want to feel proud of my choices

I want to be sure I’m with the right company

I want to make sure I can trust the business & it’s people

Give me control to make decisions

Help me make the right choice

Help me navigate the complexity

I want to choose how I interact with the business

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

http://www.success-in-business-tips.com/
http://www.personal-customer-service-tips.com/
http://www.effective-marketing-advice.com/
http://www.businessactivitytips.com/

Learn How to Sell to Customers

Learn how to sell, and if you have staff, have them learn how to sell.

There are many sales courses available so find one that keeps it simple and allows you to role-play situations relevant to your business.

After you attend the sales course you can develop your own Sales Process for your business.

Your Sales Process should be tailored around these basic steps:

Greet the Customer
· Build rapport
· Project a professional image

Understand Customer Needs
· Ask permission to ask questions
· Effective questioning
· Listen to the customer’s needs
· Clarify the needs

Recommend a Solution
· Match your products or services with the customer’s needs

Close the Sale
· Ask for the business – “How would you like to proceed with that?”

Thank the Customer

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

http://www.personal-customer-service-tips.com

http://www.success-in-business-tips.com

http://www.effective-marketing-advice.com

Be Consistent

It is vital you be consistent ( that is, consistently good ) with everything your business does.

That way your customers will know what to expect every time they use your business.

Some of the largest franchises in the world are successful because they are consistent. Apply the same principles to yourself and your business.

Provide the same service, the same products, the same follow up, the same professionalism, and so on. And the customers will keep coming back.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

http://www.businessactivitytips.com
http://www.effective-marketing-advice.com
http://www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
http://www.success-in-business-tips.com

Observe Other Industries

It’s very difficult looking at your business objectively when you spend most of your time on operational activities.

It’s therefore very easy to have your business have the look and feel of all other businesses in the same industry as you, and this may not give you the advantage you need over your competitors.

You can get that advantage by looking at what other businesses outside your own industry are doing well. Adapt those good ideas and activities to your business, even if they are not normal for your industry.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

www.businessactivitytips.com
www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

How Did Your Customers Hear About You

Ask everyone who comes into contact with your business

· “How did you hear about us”

This way you will be able to invest your marketing budget on activities that work!

And by using the marketing activities that work, you will be able to drive more customers to your business.

Make it easy for yourself and your staff to record the response from your customers, suppliers, and anyone else who comes into contact with your business. Then you will quickly know what marketing is working and what is not.

You will also be able to decide what proportion of your marketing budget you should spend on different activities.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

Do Something the Customer Does Not Expect

1. Make a suggestion:

I wanted to build more rooms to my house so I called 4 builders to come to my house and give me a quote for my house-plan. There wasn’t much difference in their prices. However, one builder suggested a minor change in the layout of my plan that would include having 2 built-in cupboards instead of an empty space, without the price changing.

He was the only one who used his knowledge as a builder to make me feel he was interested in helping me achieve what I wanted to achieve. He obviously got my business.

Other things you can do:

2. If the customer buys 2 items give a second item for a discounted price
3. If the customer is buying 1 low cost item, give it to them for free
4. If there is a better packaged offer for the same product the customer is buying, let them know
5. Give the customer a product to try, free of charge
6. Offer to carry items to the customer’s car
7. Offer free or discounted delivery if your customer buys many items
8. Give the customer something as a one-off for special circumstances, even if it’s against policy guidelines

You know your business better than anyone else. I’m sure there are many little things you can do that will help you stand out from your competitors.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

Provide a Benefit to Regular Customers

Most of you would have heard of Loyalty Programs, and yes they do work.

They don’t have to be as big as Frequent Flyer Points or the Credit Card loyalty programs.

There are 7 coffee shops within a 200 metre area of where I work. Only 1 coffee shop has a loyalty card. Every time I buy a coffee they stamp my loyalty card. After I collect 10 stamps on my loyalty card I receive a free coffee. With the price of coffee these days why would I want to buy coffee from any of the other 6 coffee shops! I wouldn’t.

Provide a benefit to customers who use your business regularly and make it appealing enough so they do not use your competitors.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:

www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

First Impression of Your Business

Make it easy for your customers to shop at your business.

The layout of your business should provide customers with a good first impression.

You don’t want customers to be confused when visiting your business, because if it becomes too hard for them they will go elsewhere.

When customers first see your business it must be easy for them to:

- Find what they are looking for
- Move around
- Find assistance
- Pay for the product
- and ‘feel right’

You can best identify ways to improve the layout of your business by listening to the questions your customers ask.

If you are being asked the same questions regularly about the points listed above, it’s time to change your layout.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:
www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

Monitor Customer Complaints and Feedback Daily, and Fix the Problems

It is very easy to improve your customers’ experience quickly, simply by listening and recording customer complaints and feedback.

Create a simple process for you or your staff to record complaints and feedback.

At the end of each day you can quickly scan these to identify if there is a change you can make to your business to improve your customers’ experience, your products, or the way you run your business.

Don’t just leave it there.

At the end of each month review the complaints and feedback you received for that month and see if there was a common theme or themes. This will give you a great insight into how your business is running and the things you can do to improve your business.

You can access further information to help you run your business through my websites:
www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

Get Ideas From Other Businesses

By observing other businesses you can get ideas for what works well and what doesn’t work well.

What works for other businesses:

- Copy these for your business
- Adapt them to suit your business

What doesn’t work for other businesses:

- You will know what to avoid
- You can do the opposite in your business

Make sure you observe all aspects of other businesses, for example:

- First impressions
- Marketing activities
- Use and test their website
- Customer service skills
- Sales skills
- Cleanliness of their business/store
- Appearance of staff
- Systems and technology

Further information to help you run your business is provided by my websites:

http://www.personal-customer-service-tips.com/
http://www.success-in-business-tips.com/
http://www.effective-marketing-advice.com/

Name Your Business so it’s Memorable

Does your business name stand out?

Does it tell people what you do?

- Pet Store

Does it include your name to give it a friendly feel?

- Jenny’s Pet Store

Does it give your location if you want to target a particular area?

- Jenny’s Sydney Pet Store

Do you specialize?

- Jenny’s Sydney Pet Rabbit Store

If you have a small marketing budget your business name becomes another marketing tool and an image for customers to remember.

www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com

Genuine Interest in the Customer

Why is it that 20 people can attend the same training session to learn customer service skills, and each person still provides a different level of service?

Why is it that organisations can spend substantial amounts of money training staff, and when you call that organisation you feel you have been subjected to scripting and unnatural conversation, with little confidence you received the information you were after, or that your request will be actioned?

The reason is that people talk to people, not organisations. People represent the organisation. The organisation can provide tools like training and scripting, however no amount of customer service training and scripting will substitute a person’s genuine interest in the customer, and the desire to help them.

If you have a genuine interest in the customer, conversation will flow naturally. The customer will feel comfortable talking with you and confident you have answered their enquiry or actioned their request.

If you have the desire to help them, you will instinctively listen to what customers say and pick up on important words that help you identify what their needs are.

You will then be able to provide information to the customer in a logical manner and order, based on the importance to the customer.


After your interaction with the customer, you will be able check the customer understands the information you provided, and that will give the customer the confidence that their enquiry was dealt with to their satisfaction.

www.personal-customer-service-tips.com
www.success-in-business-tips.com
www.effective-marketing-advice.com