Great customer service is significant to a business’s success. The mistake that most companies operating on a low budget make is to treat customer service as a less critical aspect of their operations. Until you start tracking and seeing the results, it may seem like a waste of time and money. In this article, you’ll learn why delivering great customer service is a fundamental marketing principle.
Let’s get you started:
It’s a good customer retention tool
Good customer service means that the customer is more than willing to do business with you again in the future. A recent study found that a 5% increase in customer retention results in an increase in profit margins by 25%. The primary justification given for this scenario is that repeat customers tend to spend 67% more with a brand they’ve bought from in the past instead of a new one. The implication of this is that s a business; you’ll spend less on customer acquisition because of the higher retention rate as a business.
Customer service is an embodiment of the brand image, values, and mission
There’s an idea you have about what your business stands for, and that’s what you would wish your potential customer base to believe. Unfortunately, there’s no way of your customers getting into your head to download the exact image you’ve got of your business unless you demonstrate it to them.
The best way to represent your brand image, mission, and core values to your client base is through efficient customer service. Of course, content, media presence, advertisements are options that will give potential buyers assumptions about your business. But customer service is the ultimate tool you can use to win or lose them; forever.
According to this study, 73% of those polled revealed that they stayed longer with a given brand because of the excellent care for the customer service reps who handled them with diligence. The same study concludes that customer service is the best avenue to communicate with your clients. When it comes to customer service, it’s less about talking and more about doing, demonstrating real value to your clients.
Happy customer experience results in higher referrals
When you treat your customers well to their satisfaction, they’ll end up spreading the word around about your business even without your knowledge.
A study on customer satisfaction and its effect on business found that 77% of customers shared their positive experiences with friends, colleagues, and relatives and encouraged them to buy from the same brand. The same goes for disgruntled and unhappy customers. They’ll discourage people in the circles from doing business with you.
The above study also found that customer satisfaction is a chain reaction that must first start with a happy customer service team. The members of the customer service team can only give what they’ve got. If they’re comfortable and motivated to work, the happiness will eventually trickle down to the customers who, in turn, will spread a good word about you with their circles.
You can channel essential insights to the customers through the customer service team
As earlier noted, there’s a perception you have about your business, but there’s also what your target market thinks about you. Most often, the two perceptions tend to be different and opposite. But the most important one of the two is the opinion of the customer about your business.
For instance, say you run an athletic wear company; you might associate your brand with health, fitness, and wellness for sportsmen and sportswomen. On the other hand, your target customers might perceive your company as standing for comfort, leisure, and attractiveness.
Your best shot at ironing out these differences in your brand image is to use your customer service team. With an effective and efficient team, you won’t even need to constantly survey your customers to know what they think about your brand. You can task the team members to ask these questions at the end of their interaction with them. From their data, you can then analyze the insights to inform your marketing goals, product improvements, and staff training.
Proactive customer service results in marketing opportunities
Proactive customer service is one way smart businesses are using to invest and plan for their future. This form of marketing entails actively looking for loopholes that might cause issues to arise and solving them before they manifest.
However, proactive marketing has a lot more uses than just customer delight. It’s an opportunity to create, introduce and market new offerings to your existing client base. For instance, you can create a new product or service package that solves problems common with your client base. The customer service reps can then point those products to your customers, especially those with a history of the same problem.
Parting shot
As a future-oriented business, you can’t ignore the pivotal role an excellent customer service team plays in your overall strategy. The key to this department’s success is a motivated, informed, and diligent team ready to provide a positive customer experience to every customer.