- It's one thing to do customer service yourself
when you're just starting your business, but as you scale
and hire others to interface with customers,
establishing a consistent experience is key
to customer retention and business growth.
- From communicating with your clients,
to following through on expectations,
there are several strategies that may help you create
better predictability in your business' customer service
for years to come,
starting with, establish consistent touchpoints.
What do we mean by this?
Well, incorporate sending regular personalized notes
in your process and then consistently keeping in touch
with your customers is gonna do a great thing.
It's gonna set a standard for the best customer experience.
And don't forget to always follow up,
even if you just say you're in the process
of getting the answer.
Customers love that.
- And this doesn't mean that you should respond to email
on the weekend,
but they'll have the appropriate expectations
and gain an understanding of the kind of relationship
they have with your business.
But after all this, then you wanna start using technology
to respond quickly.
I mean, technology has made consumers less patient.
I know I am severely less patient than I was years ago.
But if you aren't in the business of making
your customers' lives easier and better,
your brand is dead.
- And there's some collaboration tools out there
and apps that offer automated responses,
such as Zendesk or Freshdesk for SMBs,
and they provide self-service appointment scheduling
and allow the entire team to see and address problems,
which can be super helpful, right?
Teamwork makes the dream work.
And this can go a long way in improving preparation
and response time when it comes to putting out
customer service fires.
- And then this one goes kinda without saying,
so you want to deliver on the details.
Service-based businesses can create better relationships
with customers by having consistent schedules
or agreed upon delivery dates.
So factor in timelines for approvals,
revisions, and reviews.
Predictability provides trust and control for customers.
Everyone appreciates the type of business
that can stick to deadlines.
The last thing you want is a bad review
listing all the things you missed.
So by collaborating on a schedule that works
for both parties, you can create a level of transparency
that makes upcoming deadlines more predictable
and more manageable.
The more you can look ahead together,
the more you and your clients can feel at ease
that there will be no surprises or detrimental roadblocks.
- Follow through on customer expectations.
As a business owner, your goal is to mitigate surprises
and doing what you said you were going to do
and committing to transparency.
I love that advice, even in your day-to-day personal life.
Fewer surprises equals happier clients,
and long-term, that can lead to repeat
and referred business for years to come.
So high-quality service and effective communication
lets customers know what to expect from a company,
which is predictability.
- And you know I had to slip this one as a web designer,
but optimize your website.
This might not be the first thing that comes to mind
when you think customer service,
but a well-designed website is extremely important
when it comes to keeping customers happy.
Navigation, quality images and content,
responsiveness on small screens, and all that good stuff.
There are plenty of little improvements you can make
to increase the enjoyment of your website.
And in terms of SEO tools for site audits,
Ahrefs is extremely useful.
It's one of the most user-friendly options out there
and provides you with a comprehensive analysis
of all aspects of your website's traffic,
backlink profile, and competitor information too.
- These tips can help you establish
great working relationships with your clients,
clients who continue to send your quality referrals
because of your great customer service.
All right, that's a wrap,
but your journey doesn't have to end here.
We have over 300 videos for you to watch.
- So be sure to like, comment, subscribe.
Thanks for watching.
This is "The Journey."