Managing a small business without top-notch customer service is like inviting your friends for a gourmet meal and not providing any forks – you might be offering the best, but no one has the tools they need to enjoy it.
Attracting loyal customers should be businesses main priority along with providing quality product or service.
There are many ways small businesses can attract loyal customers and here are a few ways to enhance your customer experience:
1. Answer all the Phone Calls
Picking up every call that comes in can be an insurmountable challenge especially when you are juggling all the tasks required of running your business.
A phone answering service can help you make sure you never miss a call or keep a caller waiting too long.
Outsourcing phone service may seem like a distant, hands-off approach to customer service, but its effect is actually the opposite. With trained phone operators at the helm, people who call your business will be able to reach a human being easily and have their questions answered and their needs addressed. This is a good way to show customers that your business devoted time and attention to them. Why wouldn’t they come back again and again?
2. Bring out some snacks
It doesn’t matter if you have got an office, a lobby, a cashier’s counter, or a different space entirely, visitors will feel welcomed by a clean, comfortable environment. A colorful bowl of candy, a plate of cookies, or a pot of coffee are thoughtful additions that complement the rest of your decorations and add a homey yet professional feel.
3. Incentivize Loyalty
Rewards programs are versatile, inexpensive tools that can benefit your business in multiple ways. Offering a discount or freebie to repeat patrons incentivizes them to keep coming back. It can also show visitors that you are dedicated in building lasting, beneficial relationships with them.
You can offer different perks to customers at little cost to your business depending on what type of business you run. If someone completes a punch card for buying 9 beverages, you might discount for their 10th, or if they spend a certain amount of money at your business, you might perform a small extra task with the service you offer.
If the prize you offer is a worthwhile payoff for customers, they are likely to feel encouraged to maintain their relationship with you rather than taking their business elsewhere.
4. Ask for Feedback
One essential factor to keep in mind is, your repeat customers may know as much about your product or service as you do. Listening to and seeking out customer feedback reflects well on your business because it shows that you care about being accountable for the quality and reliability of your product and your business as a whole.
Just as importantly, feedback from customer can provide you with valuable knowledge about what’s working, and what parts your business might not be attracting patronage.
5. Take Care of Your Staff
If your employees aren’t happy, they will have a hard time making your customers happy. When assessing your business work environment, here are a few questions that might help guide you:
- Do your employees have the training and supplies they need to carry out their duties?
- Do your employees get along well with each other and you?
- Do customers report having a great time interacting with your employees?
Keeping up with business is a lot for work for everyone on the job. If the people on your staff are overworked and tired, Idea #1 might help them as well as you. Not having to rush to the phone can alleviate some of the pressure that comes from multitasking.
Establishing a healthy work environment doesn’t have to cost any money, and employees who enjoy their job can make a huge difference in making sure all your customers are happy.
Implementing any or all of these ideas for customer experience enhancement can build you a happy and growing clients. These methods can also help with word-of-mouth marketing, as pleased customers may not only come back to your business, but also tell their friends about it.
You already know the product or service you offer is excellent. By taking the steps to perfect customer experience, you can make sure your customers know that too.
