Set Yourself Apart By Providing Exceptional Customer Service
If you surveyed your long-term clients would they say that the customer service they receive now is as great as it was when they first started working with you? If you even hesitate before you answer that question, you need to step up your customer service game. While there are service providers that will compete on price alone, your best bet is to compete on the quality of customer service you provide. Consider the reason that your clients came to you could be because they were disillusioned with their prior service provider and you know you need to step up your customer service game. It’s more cost effective to keep a client than it is to cultivate a new one.
Here are some tips for providing the best customer service possible:
- Personal contact matters. Make sure you return emails and phone calls, try to respond within one business day. If a prospective client is calling you, chances are they have a pain point that needs to be addressed, NOW; they won’t want to wait.
- Always try to underpromise and overdeliver. Set deadlines that you know you can meet or exceed. Provide metrics for measuring results that you know you will exceed.
- Listen more than you speak. Let your clients share their concerns and honestly respond to how your business can address those concerns.
- Cultivate relationships with other service providers. If your client needs a service that you don’t provide, it’s best for you if you can say, “I work with XYZ, let me have them get in touch with you” this builds your credibility and your network while taking away a stressor from your client of having to find his own resource.
- Schedule occasional meetings with clients to simply touch base.
How do you set yourself and your business apart from the competition? What is your best “exceptional customer service” tip?
