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Want to Win The Competition For Customers?
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Wowing Clients Can Be Your Best Strategy
By Mindy Charski
Neil Kratzer wants patrons of his shop, The Wine Room in Williamsville, N.Y., to leave happier than they were when they arrived.
But if customers choose not to walk through the door, that’s fine, too. They can simply park outside, call a number on a bottle-shaped sign, and place an order for wines or spirits that will be delivered by Kratzer or one of his two part-time employees.
Kratzer has made customer service a priority since opening in 2006, and as he sees it, it’s a way to differentiate value for what is essentially a commodity product controlled by the state.
“I can’t add a pretty ribbon to it or add another product to it that would make it different than the other store down the street,” he says. “The only thing I can basically do is treat you with more care, more respect and more thankfulness for choosing my store versus someone else’s store.”
Kratzer’s good service has helped him build stronger bonds with customers and has inspired many of them to tell family and friends about the shop. So in this way, treating people well has also played a marketing role.
Indeed, for all micro-businesses, customer service and marketing no longer need to exist in separate silos: Given the high costs of finding new customers and consumers’ widespread use of digital media to both communicate with companies and spread tales of glee and woe, it’s time to make customer service a successful marketing strategy.
View Customer Service With A Wide Angle
Businesses have multiple opportunities to generate satisfying experiences—many of which they may not recognize.
“Every single interaction with a customer is either helping or else it’s hurting their overall customer experience with your company,” says Andrew Jensen, chief executive officer of the business consultancy Sozo Firm in Shrewsbury, Pa.
Those interactions occur before, during and after a purchase, he says, and include:
- Educating a customer about a product or service
- Offering training on how to use a purchase
- Following up to gauge satisfaction
“All too often small businesses look at an individual customer and say, ‘I made the sale, I’m done,’ and they move on to the next customer. But they fail to realize it’s not just one sale, but it’s a relationship,” Jensen says.
Handling complaints properly can strengthen that connection, but resolving issues isn’t always done one-on-one anymore.
When people post negative comments on review sites like Yelp or Angie’s List or on social media like Twitter, business owners must reply publicly to private grievances.
There is, however, an upside.
“If you very kindly, calmly respond to that user and maybe offer a coupon or their money back, then future customers who see the interaction are impressed. You took a complaint and turned it into a customer service selling point,” Jensen says.
Alternatively, when you fail to respond to a bad review or do so in an unconstructive way, you risk turning off prospects who come across the comment and don’t investigate your business further.
Build Customer Service Into Your Culture
One way to potentially reduce broadly-aired complaints is to create good feedback mechanisms.
“The easier you make it for customers to reach you directly, the less likely they’ll complain in public on social media,” says Micah Solomon, author of “High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service” (AMACOM, 2012).
Provide a contact form online, for instance, and routinely respond to comments. Likewise, establish a presence on Facebook and Twitter to genuinely engage with customers who want to ask questions and share thoughts about your products or services.
Of course, your company can only deliver top-notch service if your staffers are willing to carry out the vision, and it starts with hiring the right folks.
When interviewing potential employees, Kratzer tells them, “I don’t care if you don’t know anything about wine—that I can help you learn,” he explains. “What I really care about is that you actually like that person who came through the door and you said, ‘hello.’”
With those kinds of employees onboard, he says, offering good customer service is easy. It’s also important to continually reinforce the message about service to employees, Solomon says.
Sometimes the strongest customer service gestures are the most personal.
Kratzer, for instance, purchases wine and spirits products with specific people in mind and invites them to come in for a try. This kind of “anticipatory customer service,” in which companies figure out what customers want before they ask for it, is a level beyond customer satisfaction. And it helps people start to feel a great sense of loyalty, Solomon says.
Lisa Wells, the sole proprietor of WMSE Elite Concierge Services, has delivered a personal touch by sending handwritten thank-you cards on Thanksgiving and regularly checking in with clients.
“They know they’re not my only customer, but I don’t ever want anybody to feel like I’ve forgotten about them because I’m busy,” says Wells, who is based in San Diego, Calif.
She’ll also act as a liaison to help clients find resources for services she doesn’t offer.
Promote Your Top-Notch Customer Service
Wells is able to convey her dedication to the customer through printed testimonials on her website. Her site also features a badge showing she won a 2011 Small Business Award from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce for excellence in customer service.
Those inclusions lend credibility, she says.
Some companies generate video testimonials, which they broadcast on their websites or on social media, including YouTube.
Others may ask satisfied patrons to post positive reviews online.
Another option is to actively plug aspects of customer service in advertising taglines, such as “Same-Day Service” or “On-Time Arrival.” It’s a strategy that might attract new customers, but comes with responsibilities.
“There’s a challenge with making promises because ultimately you need to make sure the things you do associated with your tagline actually support the entire business,” says Ross Kimbarovsky, co-founder of Chicago-based crowdSPRING, an online marketplace for custom creative services like graphic design and writing.
“If your tagline is, ‘We Treat You Like Family,’ and you’re a small business, you need to do the kinds of things that would definitely prove to your customers time and time again that you treat them like family.”
Dallas-based freelancer Mindy Charski tells others about a dry cleaner who remembers her name, has a drive-through window, returns all her clothes and jokes with her son.
Want to hire the right employees who can deliver top-shelf service, but don’t want to deal with all the payroll headaches? Turn to ADP Payroll Services.
NASE Members receive discounts of up to 40 percent on services such as:
- W-2 processing
- 940 and 941 tax filing and deposits
- Direct payroll deposit
- And more
Seminars and workshops could help you find new ways to use customer service as a marketing tool. And an NASE Succeed Scholarship® might pay your way!
NASE Members can apply for a scholarship of up to $4,000 to help pay for:
- Conferences and seminars that will help you grow your business
- Continuing education through university or college courses
- Training courses for business licensing and certification
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