How You Can Provide an Outstanding Customer Experience

November 13, 2014 by Christine

One of the best ways to keep your customers coming back for more is to make sure that they get the same high-quality experience every single time they come to your company. This goes way beyond just having a high-quality product or service — every element of your business and your interaction with the customer needs to be on point.

This “customer experience” also holds true for those prospective customers that contact or approach you about becoming a customer. Even when contacted by someone who you knjow is not the right fit for your business, even those who query you about a service you do not offer and yes even those . . . . . yes those . . . .  anyway . . .

Here are some of the best ways to ensure your customers, and prospective customers, are getting a high-quality customer experience:

• Be responsive. Not only should you make sure to give thorough and accurate answers to all of the questions your customers have, but you should attempt to answer them as quickly as possible. Your customers will truly appreciate you making an effort to answer their questions quickly.

• Personalize your communications. People don’t want to interact with a brand, they want to interact with people. People do business with people. Make sure that customer service representatives are using names and that all communications have a personal element to them. People can tell when customer service is genuine and when people are simply reading off a script. They can also tell when you are being genuine and truly care.

• Be positive. Not to beat the “attitude is everything” cliché to death, but it’s true — people just respond so much better to customer service reps that have a positive attitude. Positive vocal inflections, smiles, a willingness to help and saying “please” and “thank you” goes a long way in creating good relationships with your customers. Never ever forget, those who contact you prospectively that you can't serve, have people they talk to that you can.

• Care about your customers individually. Treat every customer according to the uniqueness of their issues rather than simply handling everything “by the book.” You’ll be better able to solve their problems if you focus on their unique situation, and your service will come off much more genuine. And speaking of individually, lest we not forget that today's social media enables your reputation and personal style – spread quickly – yes especially through those closed groups that is really gossip behind the scenes!

• Use the three “A's.” The three A's are Ask, Agree and Apologize. Ask customers questions to learn more about how you can help them, agree with their complaint and show your understanding of how it makes them feel, and apologize politely for the issue at hand before taking action to solve the problem.

All of these tips sound rather simple, but you’d be amazed at how much of a difference they can make in giving customers a positive experience with your company. Businesses that follow these tips are much more likely to see repeat customers. Businesses that use these tips with prospective customers are rewarded in kind.

by Christine Kelly

CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC

Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.

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