At some point, you’ve observed someone purchasing a product or service that wasn’t quite as advertised. Perhaps they’ve tried to raise the matter with the vendor and been met with silence, or perhaps they’ve looked for a way to raise this with the vendor and found nothing.
What you saw there is a business needlessly losing a customer. And what about your business? How sure are you that your customers are offered every assurance, every step of the way? You don’t ever want that person to be one of your customers.
Delivering great customer care is one thing, but equally important is putting your brand’s name in the customer’s mind with every positive interaction. If they like you but can’t remember your name, what’s the point?
Below are a few tips for upping your customer care game, but also for making sure your brand sees the full benefit of your hard work.
1) Use Professional Invoices
A careful person keeps track of their receipts. If that receipt bears your brand’s logo and a clear breakdown of payment details, that keeps your brand’s name in their mind and builds trust.
Whether you’re shipping parcels or delivering a service to clients, professional invoicing creates a positive image and improves your brand recognition. Using an online invoice creator is a worthwhile investment in this way.
You’ll find that a repeated theme in this article is having the right people for the right job. A quality online invoice and receipt creator is exactly what you need to handle your invoices and receipts and help to manage your finances.
No surprise parcels: branded packaging sets you apart from the crowd and improves recognition
2) What’s in the Box?
If your business involves shipping, a cheap and easy way to show professionalism is to use letter-headed labels. There’s always that moment when a parcel arrives and someone’s mind blanks, and they think ‘oh, what’s this’. The next thing they see is your name and logo.
As soon as a customer sees your product, all they see is the product. No names, just ‘the product’. By stamping your brand name right before that moment, you’re creating an association. There’s a reason the brand name is always placed prominently before the product on item listings. Repeat that process here.
3) Website Building
If you’re going to have a website — and most businesses need one — then make it a good one. At the very least provide a clear statement, general product sections, and most importantly, clear contact information.
An accessible, attractive layout doesn’t cost the Earth. Many customers will come to your website if they want to correspond, so don’t let their first thought be ‘…oh. Where is everything?’
4) Speak Clearly
This one sounds so basic that you might laugh, but it’s so important. Any member of your staff who sends a large amount of outward correspondence should be able to use good spelling and grammar — or at least be willing and able to use a grammar checker.
When you’re corresponding with a business, you want to be confident that they know what they’re doing. If their official correspondence includes no capitalization, frequent spelling mistakes, bad punctuation, and a lot of weird ‘…’s, are you going to trust them with your money?
5) Social Media is a Butler’s Game
Aside from your website, Facebook and Twitter are the major ports of call for customers looking to speak to you. If you receive a complaint or query, your social media manager is that customer’s butler until the issue is resolved.
This begins with a prompt response and carries on up to proactively checking that they are 100% happy that the issue has been resolved. This kind of customer care stands out, and people remember it. As your business name is your Twitter handle, your performance here will leave a lasting impression on customers — good or bad.
Conclusion
Bulletproofing your operation doesn’t just avoid weak links letting you and your clients down. It creates a full impression of a business that has its hand firmly on the tiller.
Get the right people. Fix the weak links. Enjoy the rewards.
