Your business will survive or die depending on your reputation. You could secure the funding that you need, have the perfect supply chain and the most exceptional product or service, but if your customer service is appalling and the reviews of your company are negative, your business will not succeed. You need to ensure that you pay enough attention to the experience that you provide your customer within your business plan. This is a facet of your business that needs a policy and needs to be utilized as a PR exercise. Flaunt your reputation and more customers will flock to you. Customers will be prepared to pay a premium if they are certain that they are buying from a reputable source. Take a look at how you can ensure that your customer service is up to scratch.

Queries

There’s nothing worse for a customer than getting in touch with a company, whether it’s via email, over Twitter or by making a call, asking some questions, and then never receiving a response. This first contact is key to foster a positive relationship. You must respond promptly and professionally. Consider outsourcing your telephone queries to Ivy answering service who will take messages, respond to general questions and even connect you to a customer if they need to talk to someone immediately. Off site receptionists are ideal if you are busy with other business duties but you don’t want a customer to be lured away by your industry rivals. The people answering calls will be polite and professional, creating the perfect first impression of your startup.

Under Promise And Over Deliver

It makes sense to have a company wide policy of under promising and over delivering. While a little cheeky, by promising to deliver a product in three days, only for you to get it on your customer’s doorstep in two days, creates a great impression. You appear to have gone the extra mile to ensure a speedier shipping time. This means that your customer has a warm and fuzzy feeling about your service. This can result in a positive review online, enhancing your online presence and making your company competitive. Follow up with an email or a courtesy phone call to ensure that your customer is happy with their product or service to elongate the customer experience.

Reviews

Review sites are now the go-to space for people looking for a reputable company to do business with. You need to ensure that you maximize your positive feedback by utilizing incentive schemes. State that for an honest impartial review, you will offer ten percent discount on any future orders. While you can’t guarantee a glowing review, the chances are that any negative review would already have been written. If you receive any sort of complaint online via social media or email, respond immediately and give your customer a timescale for your investigation. Even the best companies receive complaints and can get things wrong sometimes. It is how you deal with this situation that will dictate whether your reputation will remain intact.

Customer service is vital to the success of your venture. Follow this guide and ensure that the customer experience that you provide is exceptional.