When you are just
starting your business, it is important that you find and keep your customers.
It might be easy to find your customers especially using the internet and
social media, however, keeping these customers is equally important. In your
business plan, it is essential that you devise one or two strategies that you
will be using to keep these customers. For example, you could give your regular
customers discounts, free care packages, check on them through phone calls and
emails, the list is endless. The important thing is to do what works for you
and keeps your customers coming back.
If you are thinking of
hiring some employees to run your business while you are away, you need to
train them in providing good customer service before they start work. This is because
they are definitely going to be interacting with your customers. You need to
explain to them the mission, vision and objectives of the business, so that
they understand why you run your business a certain way. An employee who is
clueless about how you run your business and has very poor customer service
could potentially cut your customer base into half.
I have experienced very
poor customer service a whole lot I must say and this is one of my very many ugly
encounters.
So my sister and I were
craving chicken one beautiful afternoon and we decided to go to this
supermarket close to home. When we got there, we headed straight to the food
counter and met a lady whose responsibility was to take customers’ orders and
serve them.
“Hi”, I said with a
smile. She looked at me and sneered. Oh well, I ignored that unexpected
reaction and looked at the food on the display. We noticed that everything had
a price tag except the chicken.
“Madam, how much is
your chicken?” my sister asked.
“But don’t you know
that we have to weigh that chicken to get the price?” she barked.
(OK now hold
up!) This lady had some nerve! There was no written notice to advise customers
that the chicken needed to be measured or weighed….or whatever. So I was
wondering why she would automatically assume that we already had this information
and were simply trying to nag her. We proceeded to ask her to pack the whole
chicken and shockingly, she rolled her eyes and attended to another customer
who had just come. After that, she took our order. I was furious.
Some customers are not
aware of the services you are providing, or how things are done in your
business. Therefore answering a customer with a question is simply not helping.
Matter of fact, I think it is simply being rude. Since then, I have never gone
back to that food counter, let alone the supermarket. There is no need opting
for a poor service.
Therefore providing a great service to customers and devising means of keeping them loyal is a great way
to build a successful business. So, that’s it for now. Do let me know if
this helps, or doesn't, or if you have any questions or suggestions.
Ta……
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