Make Great Customer Support Your Company Culture
As someone who’s dealing with large numbers of people on a daily basis, I acknowledge the importance of forging strong personal relationships. That applies not only to real life but also to all business matters so to speak, much more now than ever before. But I also see it as one of the most challenging tasks that can either make or break a business.
Very few businesses these days understand that making forging strong connections a pillar of their company culture will actually scale business growth and bring in more clients much faster. In this era of competitive market and rapidly-evolving market trends, the pressure is high and an ever-increasing number of companies engage in aggressive marketing tactics which negatively impact their brand reputation.
Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you - brand reputation is everything - and connecting with customers lies at the base of it.
In my day-to-day life, I’m always approached by salespeople. Even I am one of them, by definition of my job activities.
Today, everybody is selling something. This is the mechanism and essence of today’s economy, and funnily enough, of modern-day social interactions.
Each occasion is an opportunity to pitch, sell or being sold to.
But unless you want to have the phone hung up on your face, develop a startup with no promising future, or manage a well-established company whose brand is consistently losing power over the new rising competition, you’ve got to step up your game.
But please, think differently.
This certainly does not mean pushing your sales up by embracing a strict customer and product-centric approach. This is what hundreds and thousands of businesses are already doing to survive.
Behind every business, there are people you sell to.
They should be your main focus. Developing a more human and values-centered approach will yield much better results.
A few years ago, I was searching for a gym (and this experience stood out from many more that were to come). I visited a few nearby, but there was that one gym that tricked me into thinking that they really cared about me joining them. They called me every day to see whether I’d made my mind, given me discounts, all sorts of welcoming bonuses, asked me about my preferences in fitness training. I talked to the personal trainers who’d call to ask me about my previous experiences and fitness goals.. basically, they talked to me as if I were a part of a big team already.
I thought I had finally found a great gym with responsible personal trainers. Well, little did I know. At that time, I had no idea about sales, marketing, and the like. Once I swiped my card and made the payment, I have never heard from them ever again.
Life took a different turn and I moved to a different part of the city. Losing that extra money I paid for the gym wasn’t that much of a problem. Their attitude was.
The following year I heard the gym closed down. And it’s no wonder why.
There’s nothing worse than nurturing and earning your client’s trust until the very moment they buy and then leaving them high and dry to figure out how YOUR business works on their own.
They started out the right way. They connected to me, listened to my needs, but they made lots of promises and never delivered enough.
I constantly remind myself of it to avoid developing a similar tactic in my work with clients.
After-sales service is as much important as the sales process itself. Even more so. When the sale is done, it’s paramount to make your clients feel valued. Making customer service the cornerstone of your business will lead to long-lasting customer relationships.
Here are a few ways you can do it –
1. Connect with your potential clients on a more personal level
They need to trust you to buy from you. Don’t spend too much time talking about the technical aspects of your product/service. Talk more about the origins of your product/service, how it came to life and what purpose it serves. Make them feel at ease by telling them why you believe in it. Don’t overpromise, but rather get to the core of their needs and challenges and make a link between your product and how it could solve some of their needs. Be honest about what your product/service will do and what it probably won’t. Create the trust and you'll gain the client.
2. Once your client started using your service/product, send them an email or give them a call asking about their first impressions
Following the sale, there is always some kind of doubt or uncertainty the customer feels not knowing whether the product/service will deliver on its promise or not. Make their first-time experience a pleasant one. It’s quite common for questions to appear at the very beginning so make it a plan to reach out to them from an early stage. Guide them towards the right use of the product/service and they will appreciate your care.
3. Ask for feedback when they’ve used the product/service for a while
Asking for feedback will make them feel that their opinions and suggestions are important for you. It makes them feel special. Keep a note on contacting your clients on the 1st, 3rd or 7th month of usage, or create your own follow-up cycle. Automating this process will make it easier to keep track of all your new members.
4. Adopt a collaborative approach with your clients by letting them engage in continuous product development
By allowing your clients to take part, you will make them feel that they contribute to your company’s overall success. There are many ways you can do it e. g. through participatory and survey-based approaches. Encourage them to come up with suggestions that would enhance your product/service based on their customer experience.
Remember, your clients are people. They’re not just buyers and sellers, so make sure you talk to them as if you were their friend.