If you have a business whether big or small, customer service is an absolute must have. Customer service makes or breaks your business. The customers hold that power. One of the biggest values to your business is your customer service. Here is a snip from one of my posts… “I offer value through my customer service. By being speedy, but accurate, ahead of schedule, but producing quality products, and providing the best service that I can, not only through the product itself, but of the presentation, I show my customers I care. That every little detail, all the way down the to tape used, was to provide value to the service they purchased. Our products are more than a product. They are buying an experience. The experience of customer service, the experience of a gift, experience of a memory, and in return they are giving us success”.

Customer service is more than refunds, and dealing with unhappy customers. Customer service is part of the foundation to your business, so how do you implement it?

Start off with you. If you were a customer purchasing from your business, what would you expect? Would the presentation wow you? Would your responses to questions, or even in your descriptions be enough for you to want to purchase that item and let go of your hard earned money? Think of some bad customer service experiences you have had in the past, whether it was from a store you shopped at, or when you worked at in the retail market. How can you avoid that with your business, and what can you implement in response to that. Ask yourself if you would shop at your store based off of your policies. If you wouldn’t want to be a customer in your own store, chances are no one else will either.

After you write down some of your basic wants, and things to avoid, you can start by making a vision statement for the customer service area of your business. Even if you are the only one providing the customer service, it is good to have something written down for those times when you need a reminder. Maybe it is something like “Insert Business Name Here Customer Service provides quick response times, accurate and on time order processing, high quality products made from safe high quality ingredients, and a satisfaction guarantee” It is almost like a mission statement. Often times when we write things down, they are more likely to be accomplished.

Once you have your vision for your customer service, act on it. From my time spent being a Social Media Manager, I can tell you some businesses over look good customer service. Once the product is sent, their hands are washed. In the slight chance that your customer receives a broken product, got the wrong item shipped to them, or has another concern, you just ruined your chance at having a repeat customer. Instead you’ve upped your chances that the customer will spread near and far their bad experience. For potential customers that see that, a red flag might pop up and before you know it, you’ve limited your customer base very fast. Bad news travels far. Now that we have share buttons readily available with every post, news spreads even faster. If you have more of an open approach, and take care of customer concerns, they still might share their bad experience, but they will also share why they will still be a customer, and why your business is one to shop at over and over again.

What are some things you can do to make sure you customers know what your policies are?

• Tell them! Make a short video, or type out your policies, and include it in your product descriptions as well as the designated policy area on your eCommerce shop.
• If you have had a customer concern, and this scenario was never addressed before, address it, and update your policy.
• Make sure your policies are fair, but aren’t going to allow customers to take advantage of you.
• Be open to solutions that your customers may provide to you in a situation. Every situation is unique, and sometimes you can’t plan. Maybe you typically offer refunds, or exchanges, but the customer asks for a replacement item instead. By doing this you aren’t exchanging, or refunding, but you are letting your customer know that you value their opinion, and their support, so if this amends the problem to them, it might be your best outcome.

The main point here is to don’t skimp on your customer service. If you are on vacation and won’t be answering messages like you typically do, set up an automatic reply so your customer is informed of your delayed response time. If you have changes to a policy, or a new rule, update them. Communication and transparency in your business will take you far. If you notice more than one complaint on a similar issue, such as a specific item arriving broken repeatedly, etc. Investigate and take the issue seriously. If customers complain they can’t easily get a hold of you, find a way for them to get a hold of you in the quickest way possible. Make store hours more visible, and business operation times clearly marked. If you get an order on Friday and don’t process orders on the weekends, make that known, so that the customer understands its not a delay, just part of your policy. If there is a problem, and you don’t fix it, customers might assume that you aren’t on the up and up, and you will come off as untrustworthy.

Here are some other aspects of your business that also make up customer service that you should not forget about:

• Your packaging. If your items are fragile, make sure they are marked as fragile, and the proper materials are included to protect your materials.
• Your words. NEVER talk badly about a customer to another. If you talk about about someone else, what makes them any different?
• Extras or goodies, such as coupons, gifts and swag.
• Product photos. Believe it or not, this will tell a customer a lot of how you value your own business.
• Your attitude. If you always have negativity to spread, no one is going to want to support your business, even if they are family or a dear friend. It’s okay to have bad days, just don’t make it a daily thing. If you are struggling, please ask for help. It will get better. If you have an unhappy customer, placing blame on them, being rude back, or handling the situation less than businesslike will more than likely cost you their business.

What do you look for in awesome customer service?