No. 1: Don’t panic!
A hard-to-resist deal or promotion might get you some quick wins sure, but it’ll cost you in the long run.
Why?
Because the longer you ignore the real problem, the bigger and costlier it’s gonna be to fix. And how many customers will you lose in the meantime?
Remember, over two thirds of Australian consumers (68%) read online reviews or blogs to find out what others think about products or services of interest. The average will read seven reviews before making a purchase decision.
Firstly, let’s talk about those quick ‘wins’
If there’s something wrong with the level of service you’re offering, that’s all that result is going to be. A quick win on a one-time customer.
And you don’t want one-time customers. You want repeat customers that are going to come back to you first, every time.
Invest your precious budget where it matters and where it’s going to work the hardest – in the heart and soul of your brand – your service.
Because that quick win customer you snagged with a 50% off deal? They were left less than impressed. Thankfully for them, they only paid half price and they’ll be sure to try an alternative next time. And you could have a brand new negative review for your next potential customer to read.
Value isn’t simply a figure
We all know it’s true, but we’ll remind you anyway… value doesn’t have to equal cheap.
What value did the customer get out of their experience with you? Did they feel valued themselves? Did you make them feel like a human being, not a credit card?
44% of consumers say customer service distinguishes a brand from its peers.
Turn down the sell, sell, sell strategies (or lack thereof) and focus on connecting with your customers in a real way, and you’ll build a loyal community that’ll be with you for life.
Oh and those customers will pay full price. Because you’re worth it.
Good service doesn’t have to cost the Earth
We know tackling your service seems like an enormous (and costly) exercise. But it doesn’t have to be!
Here’s our top three quick tips for making your customer’s five-star service dreams come true:
Get Social
Get engaged and talk to that community you’ve worked so hard for because social media is designed to be just that – social! Over half of Australian consumers are more likely to trust a brand if they interact positively with customers on social media (51%).
And don’t forget the importance of having an auto-response set up – 40% of consumers expect brands to respond within the first hour of reaching out on social media – and make sure it’s useful by listing the hours the inbox is monitored and when the customer can expect a response by. Remember, 79% expect a response in the first 24 hours.
Lay off the promotional emails and turn on automation
Your bricks-and-mortar employees can be as charming as Clooney, but if that customer is bombarded with a series of shouty promotional emails as soon as they leave the store? Hello unsubscribe.
Focus instead of making sure you’ve got a wicked series of welcome emails running. Say thank you, spend some time introducing yourself, show off your personality and inspire with some helpful blogs. If you’ve got a preference centre (and you should!) ask them what they want to receive from you, and how often.
You don’t need a top-of-the-whazza CRM for this either, Mailchimp has some extensive automation features you can use to build really great personalised journeys for your customers.
Make your website your hardest working employee
Your Instagram game is ace but your customers can’t find the answers to some frustratingly simple questions? Make sure your website has a FAQs page full of the most commonly asked questions and make it super easy to find, digestible and simple.
Keep it up to date and it’ll soon become your hardest working customer service rep, meaning you can spend less time on social managing DM queries, and more time doing what you do best – creating killer content.
