Are you giving a good Customer experience ?

What is a good Customer experience ?

If you dont give your customers an amazing experience and journey and treat them with respect it will have a damaging impact on your brand, so delivering exceptional customer service is an ideal way for a small business to differentiate your brand from the big guys and competitors and become one of your unique selling points. 

Bad news travels fast, which is why Social Media can be both good and bad for your brand. Have you had a bad review ? and if so how did you deal with it ?

Examples of Good Customer Service

In our opinion if we can add a personal touch or go above and beyond what is expected our reputation will go before us. That way they become your brand advocates and without asking they will recommend friends, family and colleagues because they were delighted with the service ... a big tick in your box. 

According to the Institute of Customer Service "A tangible product is only one aspect of the supplier/customer relationship. The other aspect is service; indeed, in many businesses, there is no physical product. The only relationship is service"

In today’s competitive business environment, the quality of customer service is paramount. By monitoring the quality of our service we have learned a lot from our customer interactions, which has made us rethink our service and processes. For us our service quality together with managing our customers expectations will always be a priority. Yes it is challenging but as a brand who want to create and maintain a good reputation it is an essential part of marketing particularly if you are a local business or supplier, and in competition with the big guys.  

We’ve all been there, customer expectations are pretty high these days and there are plenty of competitors to entice them away. We all say we provide an excellent service, but what if you just didn′t on this one occasion for whatever reason ?

Lets face it things do go wrong. As a small business it is now a necessity to encourage customers to leave a review to manage our reputation effectively. Although it is quick and easy to do not all customers take up the chalice. I must say that I always give feedback or reviews where ever possible. Are you scared to ask your customers in case you are faced with a negative or nasty review?

Well if they do, thats all fine because it is how you respond to their bad review that could just make all the difference. The first step is dealing with the customer complaint or low review quickly, if it is on social media for all to see. What is really bothering them, and what were their initial expectations ?

low quality service

bad user experience

low quality product, or not as expected

Delivery problems

At Millfield Media Print & Design our aim is to regain our customers trust and understand their frustrations in the first place. A good customer experience is crucial to the success of any business. When it isn’t delivered, it’s then becomes a problem. Accepting responsibility is the first step in turning a negative into a positive and if they are unhappy with the product or the service they will leave being happy with the customer service and the solution you have provided.

I always thank our customer for their feedback, then validate their experience putting myself in their shoes. Remaining calm throughout, understanding what their frustrations are.

If they’ve experienced a low quality product / service, I would show an understanding of the issue, ask what they were expecting and explain how im going to ensure it wont happen again. If their complaint is more general I would get as much detail as possible then take the discussion offline and ring to speak to them. Sometimes it is just a lack of understanding or information. Usually for us it is the delivery or production time has been interpreted wrongly. I try to supply the correct and appropriate information and direct them to that source (maybe your website or a link). In one instance our 3/4 day turnaround didn′t happen because of two bank holidays. We learned from this and adjusted the timescale accordingly.

In all cases, I try to defend my brand publicly and let people know how the issue has been resolved which will gain the trust of your customers and lets them know that you value them. Apologise and offer them a goodwill gesture such as their money back, a future discount or freebies. Above all I learn from it and try to ensure it dosent happen again :)

Which reviews are best for customer service ?

The many options available for reviews are growing and it would be unreasonable to ask them to leave a review on all of them. So, which one is optimum for your business and easiest for your customers ? Google My Business allows reviews, comments, and pictures. As a small Business this is an amazing FREE tool, and because it is Google, it can give you a boost in a search for people who are searching in your area for a specific business.

Do you opt for your own website perhaps, an email or text direct to the customer ? Do you use a social site like Twitter which is so fast paced it would be difficult to find (unless you had a review hashtag, perhaps), but the tweets can still be found in search results. Do you use Trust Pilot on your website

Facebook is now moving up the ranks as the first place potential customers visit although they have retired the star rating system. Now, when your customers want to write a review, they can choose to recommend or not recommend your Page.

What works for your business and why ?