Tips to Use Customer Service to Drive Small Business Loyalty

Customer service can be defined as the ability of the business to meet customers’ demands and exceed their expectation when responding to the queries in person or virtually. It is usually expensive to attract new customers than to retain existing ones. It is because attracting new customers means a business needs to spend money in advertisement and promotion of the goods which is expensive.

Moreover, small businesses have limited funds and marketing campaigns to promote their business which can prove to be out of budget for them. Owing to the restraint in the fund for advertisement, customer service for small business is of utmost importance.

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The following article is about the ways a small business can implement customer service to drive their business loyalty.

Interact with the customers on a regular basis

Regular interaction with the customers is essential to attain loyal customers. Sending regular e-mails, newsletters and frequently posting on social media platforms can be different forms of communication. All these can help pass updated business news to the customers about the product/services.

To send emails, newsletter or communicate with them personally, you would need the personal information of the clients. So, a database containing the client’s personal information including email address, home address and mobile number should be maintained. You can even send friendly reminders, birthday wishes, different offers, and gift vouchers to the customers on special occasions.

All these forms of interaction will show your customers that your business values their relationship with the customers.

Give special benefits to your most loyal customers

The most effective and inexpensive way to reward customer loyalty is by giving them special treatment. What is meant by special treatment? Special treatment is treating them in a way that shows respect and friendliness.

For instance, when your most loyal customers visit your shop offer them refreshments, do not make them wait for long and try to attend them immediately. Give minimal discounts at times to show them you care about your loyalty. Also, invite them to your business parties and launches to make them feel special.

Through these methods, you not only motivate them to be a long-time customer of your business, but you also give a reason for other customers to be loyal to your brand to enjoy the special benefits.

Consider different payment plans

Many businesses are seasonal and face cash flow issues during the non-seasonal time of the year. As a result, a business can introduce different schemes to encourage sales throughout the year. For example, gold jewelry shops have the highest revenues during the wedding season. To promote sales throughout the year, the business can organize fairs with other similar business, offer discounts, offer EMI on expensive products and give cash back.

You can also implement schemes where customers buying from you throughout the year will earn points and can use these points on special events like – Eid, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and other festivals. All these strategies will not only give customer satisfaction but will also increase your sales throughout the year. Moreover, a business offering so many privileges to the customers will surely help to retain your customers.

Excellent customer service

Customer service is a term that is being repeated over and over again because it is important to retain customers. It is seen that a business with excellent customer service not only retains existing customers but also helps get new customers through the referrals.

It does not matter if you are providing the best quality goods if your customers are not happy with your service they will not make any further purchase with your brand. On the contrary, satisfied customers will choose your business over any other brands even though other businesses claim to offer higher quality or low-cost goods.

Also, when customers get better service they recommend your business to their friends and family. In my opinion, the easiest way to provide excellent customer service would be to build a professional team of customer service representatives. The representatives should be well aware of all the business policies and have good knowledge about the product/service your business is offering in order to help customers in every possible way.

Do not be too dependent on technology

Even in this digital era of technology and automation where online services, text messages, and e-mails are cheap methods of communication and interaction, personal face-to-face interaction is also very important. We are too dependent on the internet, technology and virtual platforms for communication that it feels good to interact with someone in person.

That is why small businesses should try to communicate with their customers personally. A highly trained team of customer service can be a way to build loyalty. Talk to your customers over the phone rather than texting them. If you are operating a business online, organize events to meet with your customers every month or two. This will help your customer know who are you and will give you a chance to bond with your customers on a personal level.

All these will make your customers connected to your business and help you build customer loyalty.

Give customers a reason to be loyal

Customers who love your brand will not go to other companies for the purchase of goods and services. To get such customers who will stick to you, you need to give them a reason to be loyal to your brand. For instance, the customers of the Apple Company will rarely choose any brands over Apple.

It is because Apple could satisfy customers with excellent customer service and quality of the products. Most importantly Apple products met all the criteria they promised their product would do during a promotion.

In recent times, no phrase is suitable enough to put emphasis on the importance of customer loyalty. The above approaches will be helpful for your small business to get loyal and satisfied customers who prefer your business over available options in the market and help to grow your business.

Hence, it is important to make your product unique than all the similar products in the market and make sure your products do what it claims. Also, you can take feedback from the customer to make sure that they are satisfied with the product and services. Taking feedbacks and working on it shows your willingness of giving quality products to your customers which will help you to make your customers loyal to your business.

To wrap up

It’s up to a business owner how he wants his customer to be treated. Earning their trust is something they can’t hope to achieve unless they practice a good customer service. So, work on the above mentioned points and you’ll get some good things out of them. Because we all know the success rate of a business depends a lot on the fact that how much its customers rely on it.

If they are returning their visit for more service and product from the same brand, no doubt, they are liking it and it’s important for any small business. Hence, never let any chance go for raising your reputation when some customer arrives asking for taking your service.

Satisfied customers are the key to profit and your good customer service can always bridge the gap between you and your new customers. Because reputation has its own pace and they spread silently with big impact.

Apart from Connecting With Customer, Emotions drives more Customer Loyalty. Here is the infographic which gives you more detail about this. Read More below and get more detail.