How Customer Service Catapults Your Business To Success
In all the talk of products, market sizes, profit margins, growth rates and other aspects of business, customer service often gets overlooked or is treated as meaning no more than giving the client the product or service that they paid for. Customer service often lacks the glamour, budget and support of other departments within a business. Research & development, for instance, is seen as the lifeblood of a technology firm. You hear very few people talk about the importance of great customer service. Yet, customer service can be a sustainable competitive advantage and driver of value creation within a business. Jeff Bezos, for instance, built great customer service into the very DNA of Amazon: the now standard 1-click ordering is an example of how taking into consideration customer needs can generate revenue growth and customer acquisition. Bezos credits Amazon’s success to its obsession with constantly improving the customer experience. I believe that customer service should be at the very heart of how your business should be modeled.
Product-Market Fit
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, believes that product-market fit is “the only thing that matters” when it comes to predicting a startup’s success. Product-market fit shifts the focus away from the product to its relationship to the market. Centuries ago, Leonardo da Vinci designed a tank and a flying machine, but there was no market for those things and so those designs remained on pieces of paper. You have to offer your customers something that they want. Product-market fit tells us just how close you get to meeting customer needs. If customers really like what you’re offering them, then you will experience revenue growth, rapid customer acquisition and enjoy pricing power.
Many founders are obsessed with their ideas rather than meeting customer needs. Everything starts with the customer. Customer service is about more than having call centres, and chat bots.
Communicate Regularly and Clearly
There is significant evidence that a business’ communications are closely tied with the value it creates for its shareholders. The best performing companies tend to have clear communication with their stakeholders.
Embrace candor and clarity as key communication features. This applies to communications even prior to converting someone into a customer, regardless of the communication platform.
Educate Clients
As we suggested above, candor is a vital part of communication with clients and prospects. HVAC contractors believe that customers will always appreciate forthright communications and transparency. Businesses should not be afraid to deliver bad news or admit to mistakes. Rather than turning customers off, you will win their trust because they will feel that you have their best interests at heart and are ready to do what it takes to make sure that they have a great customer experience.
This should inform your attempts at educating your customers. Arming them with knowledge helps them make better decisions. Even if that means acknowledging areas where your business is lacking. Use all your communication tools to reach out to your customers and help them understand your product better and any relevant information that they need to make better decisions.
