Great Tips for Exceeding Customer Expectations

Getting your business to stand out in today’s fast paced world can be extremely difficult, no matter what sector you operate in. Though you may offer the best technical ability when it comes to your hands on talent, if you’re not wowing clients with superior customer service, your skills may not hold enough weight to get them to return or to refer you to their friends. World class customer service is a must for any client-facing operation, no matter how big or small, if you intend to keep your doors open long term. So whether you turn wrenches or provide law services, here’s what you need to do to keep clients coming back time and time again.
Employee Training Program
While many small businesses have a customer relations person or team, or someone to greet and check in customers as they enter, there may be times when a customer’s first interaction isn’t with the person they’re intended to meet. By providing all of your employees with customer service training, whether they work in a garage or in a back office, they’ll learn the proper skills to paste a smile on any client’s face from the moment their interaction begins.
Personal Touch
There is always room to add a personal touch to your services. For example, leaving a thank you note in a vehicle after an oil change could vastly improve someone’s day. Better yet, leave a coupon for a return visit!
Build Relationships
Ultimately, building a business is about building relationships. When you turn your focus from simply creating revenue, you’ll find it much easier to interact with customers on a personal level. Don’t look at everyone who enters your business with dollar signs in their eyes. Find out about their day, learn about where they live, and try your best to be a friend, not a service provider. These types of relationships will encourage customers to visit you any time they need what you offer, and they will surely refer their friends and family to you for your friendly approach to business.
Honesty Wins
In surveys of thousands of American consumers, the trait they value the most when it comes to working with a local business is honesty. Being caught in a lie, or even recommending an unnecessary service, can cause great harm to your relationship with not only this customer, but any of their friends, family or other connections that may use your services as well. By providing honest service, all the time, you won’t have to worry about the fallout of a lie.
Respond to All Reviews
There are numerous outlets online where people can review their experiences with local, regional and national businesses. Sites like Yelp, Facebook and of course Google all publicly display these reviews, good or bad, for the world to see. While it can be frustrating to receive a negative review, you don’t have to be left out of the conversation. You can respond to reviews as the business owner, and provide your take of the situation, but refrain from pointing fingers or being rude. The best way to resolve a situation is offline, so offer the customer the opportunity to contact you in a private manner to work out the issue. On that note, don’t hesitate to respond to positive reviews either. Saying thanks shows that you are listening to the conversation and care about the reputation of your business! These reviews are what many customers use to decide if they should visit a business or not, so make sure you’re heard.
Customer service is key to success and longevity. But remember, while your business may be brick and mortar, its reputation now lives online. If you would like assistance communicating with your customers online to ensure you put your best foot forward from the very beginning, contact MORBiZ. As small business Internet marketing experts, we offer an array of online tools, including Webstar, an online reputation management system , that help business owners grow their bottom line and keep customers coming back over and over. With Webstar you can track the conversation surrounding your business online, which gives you the opportunity to respond to clients soon after they leave a review or mention you elsewhere on the web! To learn more about how we can help you grow your web presence, call the friendly team at MORBiZ at 1-855-2MORBiZ (266-7249) or email us at sales@MORBiZ.com . We look forward to working with you!









