Customer Service Will Separate Us
The circumstances we are going through now will test the metal of every business in this country. Some will fold, unfortunately, but many will survive and continue to do business. What will separate these businesses after COVID19 fades is how they look at and execute customer service now and going forward.
I know many of you are just now are thinking, "yeah yeah be nice to the customers... thanks captain obvious." BUT what many business owners and managers don't realize is customer service is a consideration in every aspect of their business. To start there are two sets of customers: internal, your employees, and external, the customer we all know and need to buy our services and products. Treating the first with respect, understanding, and support during these next couple of months will the make a difference for if you even have employees to serve the customers when they come back in full force. Treating your employees as you would want yourself treated also sets the tone for how they treat the buying customer on a daily basis. Employees who hate their job tend not to really care about doing a good job in any aspect. So make sure the internal customers get your best treatment and focus.
Good customer service for the external customer is more than just greeting them with a friendly smile and attentive help. It drills down much further than that, starting with staffing correctly. If you don't have enough staff to wait on, ring up, or answer the phones then you are not giving your customers a good experience right out of the gate. Are your products or services clearly priced? No one likes asking how much something is, and most of the time they won't ask and then they don't buy. If you are advertising, are the products or services you advertise clearly priced and conditions spelled out? Are the products in stock and clearly priced for the customer to walk in and see. Answer no to any of those questions and you are not giving good customer service. Buyers want and easy and seamless transaction. Then there are the obvious aspects of good customer service like believing the customer is always right, or at least 99.9% of the time. Easy exchange and or refund policies. Timely follow up with buying customers to make sure they were happy with you, the process, and the products or services they purchased from you. I used to have customers that would say, "I don't like to complain but..." and I always made a point to tell them to never stop letting us know where we fall short. The worst thing that could happen is I never hear a complaint and I think we are the greatest. Only to open one day and have no customers and then wonder what why when everyone seemed satisfied. A complaint is a huge opportunity to improve and better your customers' experience. And that goes for those internal customers too.
So make sure you are using every best practice you can to provide excellent customer service for both sets of customers. This way when the dust settles you will be miles out in front of your competition.