Does "Service With A Smile" Help Profits?

A lot of businesses that spend huge bucks creating a product or service... huge bucks marketing it... and, it seems, very FEW bucks supporting the customers who buy it.

If you're ever been on the side of crappy customer service, you'll know how frustrating it can be.

Businesses can have a great product or service. Imagine, though, if they sneered at you or mocked you when you called to ask a question. Would you go back?

Probably not. Customer service is important -- it may not always feel as important as creating a great product or drawing up a marketing campaign... but you need to have the service to back up your product if you want to maximize your profits.

Don't get me wrong; great customer service doesn't solve everything. A shoddy product or service is still a shoddy product or service, regardless of how good the customer service is.

For example: a web host may have flawless customer service - emails answered within minutes, support staff available by phone 24/7, everyone courteous and professional.

But if your website goes down for a couple of days every single week -- well, chances are, you're going to leave (and if you haven't, you should!).

Customer Service Tips:

• It almost goes without saying that you should try to always be polite, professional, and helpful. When you can, offer more than just the bare minimum. For instance, let's say a customer sends you an ad for publication. Although he is responsible for the content of his ad, check it over and advise him if his website URL is incorrect and/or non-functional. He'll remember that you went out of your way to help him.

• Encourage customers to send referrals your way. To make it easy on them, you can do stuff like:
  • Include a "Tell-A-Friend" link on your site. (lots of free scripts are available; try this one)

  • Include a coupon or two to pass onto a friend with the customer's re-order form.

  • Include free passes for your customer and a few friends to visit you at a trade show.

  • ...and so forth.

• Make sure you let customers know you appreciate their referrals - even if the referrals don't become customers. Reward their behavior and they'll be more likely to repeat it.

• If you hire service staff to help you, make sure they're competent and capable of dealing with people. I've had very sweet customer service people who have no clue how to help me resolve a problem; and I've had god-awful rude service people who can help but it's like pulling teeth to get them to talk in a language that normal humans can understand. Your customer service staff is meant to deal with customers... so make sure they can relate to them.

• Even if a customer doesn't re-order or re-new with your business, treat them well and thank them for their business. You won't always know the real reasons behind the termination of your business relationship (you can ask, if you feel it's appropriate, but do so -nicely-). "Ex"-customers sometimes do come back - and they'll remember how well you treated them.

• If you run into an obnoxiously difficult or rude customer, resist the urge to blast them. Be firm but polite. Try to resolve the situation. If it cannot be resolved -- or if you deem the customer to be a problem you're just not willing to deal with -- then terminate your business relationship -- again, politely but firmly.

• Give customers the benefit of the doubt when possible. Sometimes there is a simple misunderstanding that can easily be resolved.

Happy customers are more inclined to tell other people... who may become happy customers... who may in turn tell other people... who may become happy customers ... and so forth. Don't underestimate the power of a referral.

Plus happy customers are also more likely to become repeat customers.

Either way, you don't need to spend the extra marketing dollars to try to acquire a new customer. In the first case, the customer is referred to you. In the second case, the customer is loyal to you.

Bottom line: that's more profit with less work.

This article may be reprinted on your website or in your opt-in newsletter, provided that it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification, and the following resource box is left intact:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Angela operates the Online Business Basics website, which offers free marketing tips and articles for beginners to the 'net. Visit www.onlinebusinessbasics.com for more tips on how to effectively market your business on a limited budget.

Originally published in 2004