Customers like to be treated right. They like knowing their money is going to businesses where they are valued and respected. Customer service and marketing are often treated as separate issues, but in reality, they overlap. Understanding the relationship between marketing and customer service can help you boost customer loyalty, improve the customer experience and draw more customers to your business.
Relationship Between Good Customer Service and Marketing
There are multiple ways that good customer service can help your business from a marketing standpoint.
- Customers spread the word about good experiences with businesses. People who are treated well by businesses are likely to tell friends, neighbors and even strangers. Word gets around, and the businesses that take the best care of their customers are likely to reap the rewards of this word-of-mouth advertising.
- Happy customers connect with businesses on social media. Social media is one of the most powerful forms of modern advertising! Happy customers like to make connections with their favorite businesses through their social media accounts, so making your customers happy is a good way to bolster your social media account.
- Good customer service improves your reputation. Good customer service can only improve your business's reputation within the community, and a business's reputation is a powerful tool when it comes to attracting new customers.
Advertise Customer Service
Good customer service is most effective if everyone knows how excellent your customer service really is. There are many ways to use your customer service as an effective marketing tool.
- Make good customer service a policy. Write your customer service practices into your policy, and make your policies known to your customers.
- Write customer service into your mission statement. Your business's mission statement should lay out all of your business priorities and values, including the importance of good customer service.
- Offer a guarantee of good customer service. Advertising a customer service guarantee to customers (think "total customer service satisfaction or your next appointment is free!") can attract customers trying to save money.
Don't Just Say... Do.
It's not enough to say that your business offers good customer service; actions speak louder than words. Any business that advertises good customer service must then offer an excellent customer experience.
- Train employees. Employee training is the first step in good customer service. Offer specific trainings to employees to teach good customer service techniques.
- Give employees some freedom to help unhappy customers. Sometimes employees need leeway to assuage unhappy customers. Put into writing everything that your employees need to know in order to satisfy unhappy customers. For example, if employees are allowed to offer a 5% discount for customers experiencing a specific problem, communicate this this rule to all staff members who need to know.
- Treat employees right. Happy employees are more likely to be good to your customers. in addition, businesses that are good to their employees may attract better staff who are more likely to help customers in need. Implement employee fairness and employee-friendly policies that can help make your business a good place to be.
Work With ProFromGo
At ProFromGo we help businesses with digital marketing, web design and SEO. We can help your business attract customers and improve brand awareness. To make an appointment for a consultation, or to get started with your digital marketing campaign, contact us today at (412) 530-5027.
