All marketing consultants will tell you to go big on customer service
Every company, whether they’re big or small, has some type of customer service department – or at the very least someone who wears the customer service hat on a daily basis. Some businesses can actually become big, based on their quality of customer service. Before you start laughing at the idea, let’s take a look at the differences in small business customer service versus the customer service we see in the larger companies.
“The bigger they are – the harder they fall”. This rings very true with larger companies and their customer service. Call a big company with a complaint and you’ll rarely get a satisfactory resolution. In fact, you might hang up before you even reach a human because they keep you embroiled on their automated phone tree system until you finally feel defeated and chalk it up to a lesson learned.
Customers will lose interest in a company fast if they don’t get their complaints taken care of in a timely manner. A small business owner can offer personalized complaint resolution in a timely manner. The dreaded company policy, the larger companies generally have some kind of “B,S company policy” in place to protect themselves – the fine print you forgot to read when you bought the product.
The smaller business owner more often than not stands by their product or service, or is so intent on growing their business that they deliver above and beyond your expectations to ensure that you remain loyal to their brand. Make it your goal to treat every customer the same and provide the kind of customer care you’d want to have if it was you on the other end of the situation. You might lose a customer based on his or her dissatisfaction, but don’t let it cause you to tarnish your reputation by being rude or negative with them. Continue being polite, because even though you didn’t meet their needs, they could recommend someone to you in the future whose needs you will meet.
Customer service is meant to help support the customer whenever they have questions or problems. When you address them as a person and not a case number they’re more likely to come back and do business with you again. The small business owner has the advantage in this respect. Their business focus is on their customers and getting them to come back. Larger companies have the luxury of seeing an influx of new customers every day, so they’re sometimes not as concerned with keeping the old ones happy. Take advantage of your small business status.
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