Business Tips for Building Customer Loyalty

No matter what kind of business you have, one thing that you will want to give your customers is good customer service. Customer service is something that every business needs to provide to its customers, whether the business is big or small.  Part of showing good customer service is to show that you appreciate them.

4 Ways to Show Customers You Appreciate Them

 

 

• Thank customers – Use a theme that shows customers that you appreciate them in your windows, advertising, and bag stuffers. Be sure that your customers feel appreciated for giving your business support.  Remember that there are options for where they are shopping and they are shopping at your store.
• Use Twitter – This is a great way to thank your customers and you can also use Twitter to give them limited time offers.  This will also let you know how well your Twitter campaign is going.
• Create collector items with your store brand – These items don’t have to be really expensive, but the items should be useful, cute, or even both. Place your logo and year on items and either sell them or give them out to customers.
• Have events that show your customers that you appreciate them – One good way to show that you appreciate your customers is through having customer appreciation days. For example, Maui Wowi had complimentary smoothies for customer appreciation, according to a press release from PR Web, and Kimball Ridge Family Market showed their appreciation to their customers with free apple pie, according to WCF Courier.
• Use help desk software where appropriate!  Like Kayako for instance, it is a growing popular service for such purposes.

Another way to give people good customer service is by talking to them the right way. Here are some of the things that customers love to hear you say, according to J Dapos.

8 Things Customers Love Hearing

“Good afternoon. How may I assist you today?” 

This will start your conversation in a non-adversarial, friendly way and it invites discussion.  The person you are talking to feels that you want to give them help rather than sell them something. It also will help put your customer at ease.

“I am able to help you with solving that problem.”

This is what puts the customer in the top spot and promises that they will receive an outcome that is positive. This statement will inspire the confidence in the customer and lets them know that they are important to the company.

“I’m not sure of that answer but I’ll find out the information by….”

Sometimes customers will call a company to check out their customer service before they decide whether or not to make a purchase. They often will call them and ask them a question to which they already know the answer. If the representative doesn’t know the answer, it’s best for them to be honest that they don’t know the answer.  This will encourage a customer and will give better results than giving the customer the run around.

“I’ll give you a call on ______and give you an update.”

If you give someone a promise to call them on a certain date by a certain time, make sure that you are doing this. This is going to show your customer that you are trustworthy and that you keep your promises.

“Your item’s delivery will be ________”

If the delivery is set for a certain date, it’s the responsibility of the company to be sure that the customer receives the item by that date. Sometimes it will take a good relationship with a vendor to make sure that the delivery dates are met. When a company pays their vendor in a timely manner, deal with vendors who are honorable, and insist that their vendors are dependable and reliable, deliveries will happen at agreed upon and specified times. Efficiency and efficient pre-planning don’t simply happen, they’re nurtured and cultivated.

“I am looking at your order’s particulars. Let me go over it and make sure I have it right.”

Every order needs to be exactly the items that your customer ordered. Customers won’t want to hear about similar products or promises that the things that you will deliver are a lot better. They will want the items that they have ordered.

“Did you receive the items that were in your order and are you happy?”

The order that your customer placed needs to be complete and your customer should receive everything that they ordered, by the time they were promised delivery, in the agreed upon method when they ordered the items, and the items should be in excellent condition.

If you want to provide customers with the right customer service, you want to have the right tools. The web has a lot of great items that you can use for providing your customers with great customer service.  See what they have to offer you and how you can improve the experience of your customers.