Going the “Extra Mile” for your clients

Referrals, loyalty, opportunities and increased business – that’s what going the extra mile for your clients will bring you. However, one of the biggest mistakes that business owners make is to view customer service as an unpaid, administrative burden. Especially nowadays, thinking like this is a sure-fire way to destroy client relationships and ensure that you rarely receive any repeat business; let alone referrals!

But what does ‘going the extra mile’ really mean and how can you establish yourself as a business that’s synonymous with great client service?

Let’s have a look at why you need to ‘go the extra mile’ and how you go about doing it.

Beat the Competition

In business, there’s usually two ways in which you can beat your competition: being cheaper or by providing a superior service. The former may get you customers in the beginning, but they’re not going to be particularly loyal and will inevitably jump ship when one of your competitors lowers their prices. This is why you have to focus on building a strong customer base through great service.

Time and time again, customer surveys have shown that consumers don’t mind paying a bit extra for a product if they receive excellent service during and after the purchase. Word-of-mouth advertising is worth its weight in gold and certainly a more effective form than traditional mediums. This is because people have a great deal of faith and trust in their friends, so if someone tells them that they received great service from your business, they are more inclined to believe it.

Be Proactive

Contact some of your previous customers every once in a while and see if there’s anything that your business can do for them. Perhaps you’ve got some new products or maybe you’ve introduced a new service. Either way, reaching out to your customers personally, like via the telephone, will speak volumes for your business’s reputation.

Always Follow-Up

A massive mistake that many businesses make is to introduce satisfaction surveys and suggestion boxes, but then fail to follow-up on the comments of their customers. This is even worse than not having a customer satisfaction programme in the first place. Show your clients that you genuinely care about their concerns by following up on every comment/suggestion that they make. It may be that their suggestion simply isn’t a feasible option for your business, in which case you need to advise them of that and provide the reasons why. They’ll appreciate this approach much more than if you just appear to do nothing.

Be Contactable

If one of your customers calls your business it’s because they want to speak to someone – pretty obvious right? Therefore, it’s important to have an actual person handle inbound customer interactions wherever possible. Of course, you can use an automated system to buy yourself some time and filter calls accordingly, but always ensure they are eventually fielded by a human being. Your customers will really appreciate it.

Never Break Promises

If you tell someone that you’re going to do something then do it. It might sound simple, but trust can be easily damaged through broken promises. This is why it is so important to really think about what you tell your customers in the first instance. If you know that you’re not going to be able to deliver your product or service by a certain time then be honest and advise your customer. After all, your company’s reputation hinges on what your customers say about you. Don’t give them any opportunities to paint you in a bad light.

Train Your Staff

This is crucial and yet an aspect that many businesses sometimes neglect. Your staff are the face of your organisation and the people who ultimately interact with your customers and potential customers. It’s therefore important that they know exactly how they’re supposed to deal with clients and, in particularly, their complaints. It only takes one poorly trained employee to undo all your hard work and damage your brand’s reputation. Training is a proactive way to ensure that your business is always prepared for anything that its marketplace throws at it.

Some businesses don’t even go the first mile when it comes to customer service – make sure yours isn’t one of them.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net