Most businesses can’t exist without a client base. In today’s digital age it could be argued that these clients or customers need to be further developed into brand advocates. Businesses will fail for many reasons, but a lack of customers that are willing to support you through the hard times is often placed high at the top. Why does this happen? Many businesses have working models and perhaps hard-working staff. What they lack is a business culture that was geared to be customer-centric from the start. Businesses are being affected by the digitalization process. This means more intense competition and evening perhaps more worrying for businesses customers quite easily shifting loyalties with the click of a mouse or perhaps more frequently the swipe of a finger.
Jordy Leiser writes in a thenextweb article that more time spent into developing your customer service practices is one of the things that will give a business or startup, a real advantage over other firms. She offers four ways to ensure that customer service can be embedded into your business DNA.
“It’s easy to fall back on old notions of customer service as a necessary evil that should be executed with as little overhead and only when necessary, especially for young companies just starting out. There are a thousand other things you could be focusing on and it’s tempting to cut customer service from your essential to-do list”.
Here are her four ways entrepreneurs can build customer service into the ‘bedrock’ of new firms.
1. A commitment to service starts at the top
2. Use technology to drive efficiencies
3. Leverage the community
4. Location, location, location
The points made above are excellent, many marketers will agree that consumer’s needs and expectations are continually changing and their high values tend to shift dramatically. All it takes a tiny mistake on social media to set your brand back a decade. While getting accustomed to providing good customer service will be a novelty for many, savvy business owners would do well not to solely depend on those parts of the businesses that of always generated the most success. The temptation is there that if the process has worked in the past and draws in customers, it’s always guaranteed to do so this is not actually future proofing your business. It’s a good idea to write new mission statement every two years. In it should be a strategy for dealing with your customers online and face-to-face.
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Source: Why do Companies with Great Customer Service Succeed?
Hayden Richards is Contributor of IntelligentHQ. He specialises in finance, trading, investment, and technology, with expertise in both buy-side, sell-side. Contributing and advising various global corporations, Hayden is a thought leader, researching on global regulatory subjects, digital, social media strategies and new trends for Businesses, Capital Markets and Financial Services.
Aside from the articles, interviews and content he writes for IntelligentHQ, Hayden is also a content curator for capital markets, analytic platforms and business industry emerging trends. An avid new media explorer Hayden is driven by a passion for business development, innovation, social business, Tech Trading, payments and eCommerce. A native Trinidadian, Hayden is also a veteran, having served with the Royal Air Force Reserves for the past 10 years.
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