Customer service is one of the most important departments of a company. Having a bad customer service is moving towards a road of loss. A company with a customer service department equals success.
Unfortunately, most small businesses have the mentality that they don’t need a customer service department. Still, over time it has been proven that a company with a customer service department shows the level of the company concern for its audience needs and services.
For instance, A bank not having a customer service department says quite a lot about the type of brand.
All types of brands either fashion, engineering, finance, marketing, digital, cars etc. No matter the company or type of business, it is vital to have a customer service department.
“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” – Sam Walton – Travis Biggert.
Having a customer service department is one thing; having a good customer service department with professional ethics is another thing. In a situation whereby the customer service of your company is filled with unprofessional and rude individuals, the word of mouth marketing will affect your customers and your company, one bad customer service experience with one customer can lead to the loss of ten potential new and existing customers.
As a brand, before you set up a customer service department. It would be best if you considered the following when screening your workers-
Professionalism
Voice
Attitude to working
Anger management skill
Dress sense
Friendliness level
There are so many attributes to look into while screening staff for the department; therefore, if the opposite of the above are the attributes of the team, they have to be screened out or placed on training and then probation, a company with a customer service department have higher profit chances.
Having a customer service department also comes with so many essential benefits. Here are five crucial benefits of having customer service in your company-
Free Marketing-
How right? When a particular customer reaches out to your brand over an issue, the customer service then handles that issue in a professional and concerned manner. The customer is then satisfied and therefore tells his friends and any other person about the experience. Free marketing has consequently taken place, and the story of the experience keeps moving around and more new customers, therefore, starts showing up. It’s true; we’re more likely to rant and rave about a terrible encounter with a company than a good one. After a bad experience, 30% of consumers tell the company, 50% tell their friends, 15% provide feedback on a rating site and 14% Tweet about it.
2. Boost Customer Loyalty-
Customers will always stick around, but a good experience retains customers for the long term. Conversely, a bad experience will see customers heading straight for the door. According to Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service. ‘Nowadays, consumers are more discerning, more demanding and “more likely to vote with their feet,” When there are so many options available, consumers don’t need to stay with one provider and will quickly move to a competitor if they receive sub-standard service’. It costs significant money to continually attract new customers to your business with advertising and promotions. However, when a customer’s experience with your brand has always been a good one, the customer’s loyalty stays with your brand consistently. When other customers try to bad-mouth your brand, you see that loyalty with your brand is stable from that customer and therefore vouches for your brand.
3. Enhanced Brand Reputation-
A good reputation for outstanding customer service will enhance your brand and help you to stand out among other competitors. It will also boost awareness as well as new leads to search you out. Today, three quarters (76%) of UK adults say a positive customer experience is more important than the product, and 55% of customers are willing to pay more for a guaranteed good experience. It’s quite important as a brand if you focus on creating a good name with good customer service and see how this reputation brings more customers and profits in the future. Many customers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. According to the research, nearly 80% of consumers want customer service to be more empathetic or more responsive or both.
4. More Profits-
The more professional and happier your customer service is, the more reason customers will keep coming back and therefore the more sales for your brand and more profits with interest. For instance, a customer calls your brand’s customer service to order an expensive product and the customer service acts professional and friendly. The brand has automatically gained a considerable profit and an important client. When the customer service is good, the gains will be high, and in situations where the customer service is terrible, the loss will be increased.
5. Brand Growth-
Poor customer service sees many businesses close up. However, the feedback from unhappy customers can be put to good use. Reviews and comments can be used to improve products, services, procedures and staff of the brand. Do crosscheck to see if there’s a typical critic or review given by the unimpressed, then devise a solution to solve the problem. Whatever issue customers state, it should be a tool to improve the brand and not break the brand. We learn from our mistakes to do better and improve our business and your customer service.
“Excellent customer service is the number one job in any company! It is the personality of the company and the reason customers come back. Without customers, there is no company!” – Connie Edler.
