In today’s highly competitive marketplace it is no longer enough to have the product or service that a potential customer, or even an existing customer, is looking for. If you are not offering a fantastic service that begins from the moment a customer first contacts you to the point where they have received their product and are satisfied, or they are happy with the service you have provided to them, then you run a significant risk of losing their custom. The cold hard truth is that with so many companies to choose from, and technology making it easier to look into all those choices, customers can afford to be picky with who they give their custom to.

Respond to Enquiries Promptly

It may seem obvious but if you are not responding to customer enquiries, whether by email or over the phone, then they will take their business elsewhere to someone who will respond to them as promptly as they want. If you have a general customer service email for your company, you need to ensure that emails are dealt with swiftly. Put some timescales in place, and if you can’t answer customers enquiries within that time with the information they are after then make sure that you do at least send them an email to let them know you are working on it – customers like to be kept in the loop. Put the same sort of timescales in place for any telephone messages you receive. Communication is one of the most important tools you have at your disposal for making your business great, and it costs you very little to deal with.

Complaints Are Not A Bad Thing

Customer complaints while potentially worrying for your business, especially if you are a small one, don’t need to lose you any additional customers. How you respond to customer complaints, especially in this day and age when so many of them are made in public via social media channels will speak volumes about the sort of company you are and how important the satisfaction of your customers is.

Be polite, no matter how angry a customer is, and make sure you respond promptly and with professionalism to all complaints both big and small. Customers who see you dealing with complaints and working to find a solution will have confidence that should something happen in their interactions with your company you will care enough to deal with it and this can lead to them choosing you.

Listen to Your Customer

Customers want a company who listen to them, and they only way to find out what they truly want is to listen to them. Customer feedback is a great way to see what customers think of your products and services and most importantly what you might be able to do to improve them. This is a great way to grow your business and make sure that your current clients keep coming back to you.

If you don’t listen to what your customers say then you really need to be prepared for them to take their custom elsewhere, can you really afford to let this happen?

The Solution

If you are seeing your customers go elsewhere and you don’t know why then it might be a good idea to seek outside assistance that can help you pinpoint any potential issues. A CRM Consultant is an impartial person who can look at your business with a fresh pair of eyes and help you to identify any areas that you could improve on so that you can help your business thrive.