Top Tips on Customer Care

Every company needs new sales to keep their business buoyant but equally as important is your attention to your existing customers.

You should never need to choose between one or the other – good sales will require customer care, and good customer care can lead to new sales – but, if a choice has to be made, then customer care should come first. Believe it or not, 80% of your company’s revenue going forward will be generated by only 20% of your existing customers. You should never take your finger off the pulse of looking after your current client base with first class customer service.

You should always treat your customers well. It really does pay dividends.

Does good customer care cost money?

Good customer care can cost a lot of money, but it’s something worth investing in. Businesses often target their customer care spend to improve client experience while tightening workflows. Begin with an audit of your operations identifying where performance falls short of expectation. From this, ask: “Where do things go wrong? How much will it cost to fix? Is there an untapped opportunity here?”

These questions allow you to plan and spend effectively. If you don’t have much time, tackle the most common reported customer issues for immediate results. Ask staff to leave alternative contact details if out of office for example, or get employees to question why they’re doing something and how does it adds value.

How can I show that a customer is important to my business?

Customers should always come first and there are a number of ways in which you can show them they’re important. First, you could think of incentivizing the customer; offer them a discount on their first purchase, or on further resultant purchases. Think of creating a loyalty scheme or ask them for their feedback (with a reward for completing any surveys).

If they’re an extremely valuable customer, think about networking with them in a social environment. Dinners, drinks or days out will make your customer feel valued and help you get to know them. Having a strong relationship can help make them feel personally connected to your company and lead to increased sales. How you handle more personal customer relationships will depend largely on how many or few you have. If you are in enterprise sales, it might make sense to have days out or dinners, while if you’re selling to hundreds or thousands of consumers, loyalty schemes, discounts, and even simple notes on important days (like birthdays) could serve the same purpose.