Marketing is not always about great visual promotion, or press.
With the digital world of advertising so competitive these days (we call it “saturated”), it is really challenging to help your business grow by advertising alone. As consumers also become saturated with new media, they are turning more and more to old school methods of vetting out stores and businesses they want to patronize; and by old school we mean ‘in person’.
Yep, people are shopping local once again. It’s nice to have the convenience of the Internet, but doing business online has been happening long enough that just about everyone has experienced the pros and cons of that dynamic. The cons, in particular, have proven powerful enough to drive foot traffic back into the doors of brick & mortar businesses.
Customer service can be your competitive advantage.
One proven method of getting new and repeat business is to provide outstanding customer service. And to do that costs so very little. It is primarily dependent on how you train your employees.
A standard operating procedure should be in place for every business, whether yours is a B2B business or B2C. Every call, every client, every lead should be treated like royalty. When an interaction between a potential customer and your business leaves that customer FEELING good, they will not just buy, they will spend more than they had planned. And, they will return. Leave a customer or a visitor feeling good, and they will support your business time and time again.
Put a service training plan together.
Our advice, then, is to put a service training plan together and make sure every single one of your employees buys into it. They can’t simply be informed of it, you need to help them understand the difference between authentically helping a customer versus going through the motions of what they believe good service should be. You need to understand (and your employees need to understand) this simple goal: Be kind, be fair, be real.