We’ve all been there before. You make a phone call and are immediately put on hold while an anonymous voice keeps telling you, “Your call is very important to us.” Seriously? If I am so important, then why am I on hold?
It seems intuitive to me. But apparently it’s not to every business. Customers respond to both good and bad customer service from the first person they meet or talk to at a business up to the head honcho. If anyone needs any further proof, I found the following statistics from The Zendesk Customer Trends Report of 2021:
*77 percent of customers report being more loyal to a company that offers a good customer experience when they have an issue.
*75 percent of customers are willing to spend more to buy from a company that offers good customer experiences.
*80 percent of customers will go to a competitor after just one bad experience.
Those numbers are up there. It’s clear. Your customers expect good service. And if you cannot supply it, they know someone else who can and will. For the most part, I think businesses are aware of what good customer service is – with the exception on that anonymous voice that keeps telling me how important I am. But just a couple of tips I’ve learned along the way at the chamber. As a business owner, you need to be patient, be helpful and be attentive. And be clear in your communication. It’s not only what you say but also what your customer hears that counts. So don’t be clear; be crystal clear. And keep all that communication positive. No one wants to hear that the product they want is out of stock. What they want to hear is that you will put an order in right now, and you will deliver that product the minute it hits your storefront.
And above all, have a plan for dealing with problems. You know you are going to have them. Also, be sure all your employees are trained on customer support. It should be a critical component of the employee onboarding process. And last, but not least, if you have a gatekeeper, that is great. They can save you time, and help answer many of the questions that owners don’t personally need to answer. Just remember, they are gate keepers, not roadblocks.
But I think Maya Angelou said it best. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” So get your customers off hold and make them believe they really are important to you!
Lynne Conlan is executive director of the South Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce. Call her at 813-634-5111, or email lynne@southhillschamber/.com.
