Do you want to build your brand without breaking the bank? What if you can use your humanity to improve ROI
You can succeed in business without spending a lot of money on complicated marketing schemes. In fact, you probably already have everything you need if you commit yourself to customer service excellence.
Every time either you or a team member answer a question or address a problem, you have a chance to win big. After all, people talk about their experience with your brand, giving you tons of free publicity. When your customers have a positive experience, they become unpaid brand advocates who will refer business to you. On the other hand, when they have a bad experience, they can leave bad reviews and damage your reputation.
So, let’s take a closer look at how you can use customer service to build our brand.
1. Listen and Take Action
Whether you deal with customers online or in person, listening is your most important responsibility. First off, listening helps you understand the problem at hand. Also, by listening, you make your customers know that you care.
When dealing with someone face-to-face, you should pay attention to body language as you listen. Over the phone, you have to depend on tone of voice. When communicating in written form, you have to carefully interpret word choices.
When your customers finish speaking, assure them that you want to take care of them. Next, take action. Your prompt response will help assuage their concerns.
2. Help Angry Customers
Thanks to social media, encounters with angry people pose a grave threat to your brand. Bad reviews can spread like wildfire.
Rather than hiding from irate customers, engage them. Face the challenge head-on and use customer service excellence to turn your detractors into supporters.
Just imagine the reaction of your social media audience when you make a heartfelt apology to irate customers. Even more so, think of the reaction when you accept responsibility and work together to find an acceptable solution.
3. Deliver Exquisite Content
Part of your customer service strategy should include the publication of valuable online content. When you contribute answers to real questions and practical solutions, you will establish the authority of your brand.
Make sure that you always create content from the perspective of customers and publish it to your website. From there, you can share it on your social media channels where you can provide links that lead back to your site.
When you develop a reputation for posting user-friendly, actionable content, you will encourage repeat visitors. As a result, your audience will naturally view your brand as the natural choice when they get ready to buy.
In addition to practical content such as tutorials and “how-to” guides, be sure to include some humor as well as a variety of content types. MailChimp provides a good example of supplying superb content to an audience.
When you visit MailChimp on social media, you can see how they provide free statistics and tools that people can use without becoming a customer. The brand also provides customer service through Twitter, where everyone can see how well MailChimp serves customers.
4. Communicate Non-Stop
When you engage your customers, you make them feel personally valued rather than just another number. For this reason, you must take every opportunity to reach out to them. Success really is that simple.
The fact of the matter is that you must respond to every comment left for you on social media. The same thing goes with email messages and voicemail.
In addition to that, use your customer relationship management to find reasons to contact customers. For example, you can have your software remind you to send thank you notes after a sale. Likewise, you can send customers birthday cards and schedule routine follow-up calls.
The cool thing is that better communication can result in dramatic improvements in sales. After all, customers who feel good about your brand will also feel a sense of loyalty. So, whenever possible, ask customers for feedback about everything from products to their personal preferences.
5. Surprise Your Customers
Despite an awareness of the essential role customer service plays in success, many companies fail to deliver. In effect, you can profit from the failures of other companies by surprising your customers with outstanding service.
Give your social media presence a “Wow!” factor by organizing promotional events that deliver tangible and valuable rewards. For instance, you can have your audience members share photos of themselves using your products and then allow your audience to vote for the winner.
Other ideas may include storytelling contests, incentives for providing personal testimonies, and challenges to produce creative YouTube videos that pertain to your brand. Additionally, you can offer surprise bonus deals to reward your most loyal customers and fans.
So, what does all this mean? You can spread awareness of your brand by consistently providing exceptional customer service using some practical tips:
• Use your listening skills and decisive action to make your customers feel valued.
• Leverage irate customers to your advantage by proving your commitment.
• Proactively communicate with customers on a friendly and personal level.
• Establish authority by posting valuable, relevant content.
• Exceed expectations and inject surprises to create memorable experiences.
It sounds simple, and it is. Can you afford not to use customer service to build your brand? Get started now. As always, remember to get help whenever you have a question or face a challenge.
About the author
Jen McKenzie is a self-employed author hailing from New York, NY. She writes extensively on business, education and human resource topics. When Jennifer is not at her desk working, you can usually find her hiking or taking a road trip with her two dogs. You can reach Jennifer @jenmcknzie
