Service: Driving the Foundation of Your Business in Good & Bad Times

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Nathan R Mitchell, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

*"Service: Driving The Foundation of Your Business in Good & Bad Times" By “Small Business Consulting” Company, Clutch Consulting LLC, Tulsa, OK

During recessionary times, companies often rethink their customer service strategy. For some reason, every customer becomes treasured when business is down. Think about this for a second: when business is good, it’s like a feast, and most companies will allow crumbs to spill over onto the floor. However, when business is down, it’s like coming off a fast, and businesses watch every crumb more closely than ever before. Why is this? It doesn’t make much sense that a company should take better care of their customer during an economic downturn than they should in any other business climate. Those companies that offer great customer service all of the time are usually the businesses that ultimately thrive for years. And with that being said, smart business people usually lead them!

I think it’s important for small-businesses to realize that it is not necessary to dump large sums of money into developing a new customer service strategy; nor does it need to be complicated; however, small business consulting can help. Even though some companies, by their horrible service levels, will lead you to believe that offering great customer service is rocket science, it really is not! In fact, service can often be improved quite simply. Here are a few examples:

—When hiring new staff members, hire the smile first, then train the task.
—Treat your employees like they are your best customer. They will in turn take care of those who drive the foundation of your business: your customers!
—Call your regular customers by their first name, and learn the names of those you don’t know.
—If you are in direct sales, send a hand-written thank-you note to every new customer, and don’t neglect the ones who have done business with you for years. You know, the ones whose needs have changed, but you aren’t aware of it. It is often much easier to get more business from customers you already have than it is to get new business from new customers.
—Make great service a must for your company. What you expect is literally what you will get.
—If you tell a customer you will call them back with an answer to their problem by the end of the day tomorrow, call them back by the end of the day today.
—Offer customer rewards and incentives.

These are just a few examples, and nearly all of them cost your company next to nothing, with the exception of the hiring and training example. Employee turnover is expensive for any business, especially a small-business with limited resources, but if you are in a situation where you must hire anyway, you might as well make sure you hire the smile. You are incurring the expense anyway.

When a company rethinks its customer service strategy, it is important to realize that not all improvements will carry over from a recessionary business climate to one that has recovered. The service enhancements that typically work best regardless of the business climate are those that drive additional sales or improve customer retention. Enhancements that also require nothing more from your company or its employees will also transition well. These are typically the little things your company does to keep your customers happy. Regardless of the business climate, these enhancements will serve you and your customers equally.

Keep Winning!