Today’s blog post is from a longtime friend and schoolmate of mine, Nicolos Beckford. He is a brilliant and intelligent person, to say the least. When he told me that he had been keeping up with the FIYUMONEY.COM blog, I was more than flattered. He sent me this post where he discussed the importance of customer service and some tips for small businesses and entrepreneurs. His tips on how to use social media feedback and complaints as a way to improve your products and services are informative and valuable. Check out below Nicolos Becford’s take on the benefits of quality customer service.

What does it mean to provide excellent customer service?

Providing excellent customer service means going the extra mile in making sure a customer is happy and satisfied with a company’s products or services. It also involves providing service to a customer in a timely, pleasant manner. In order to provide excellent customer service, one needs superb communication and problem-resolution skills.

Building Your Business

One of the keys to building your business as an entrepreneur, after carefully crafting your product, painstakingly refining your service offerings, and carving your niche, is to solidify this with a foundation built from good customer service. Customers who receive excellent service will improve the bottom line of your business by returning to you with repeat business. They will be more likely to be promoters for your business, referring family, friends, and just about anyone who may ask for their opinion.

This in the customer service world is known as your Net Promoter. The more you have customers batting for your business, the better your net promoter score. This data is critical in identifying not only customer satisfaction but also pointing out how much potential growth will come from your existing customers based on their experience with your organization. For example, four out of five people are more likely to work with a business after receiving good service. Three of five will recommend your business to others based on the personal touch that was offered to them.

But what happens when you get customer service wrong?

Bad Customer Service

One of the many quotes from Maya Angelou that people are sharing today is, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

I have found that in today’s customer service environment, this statement holds true. The impact of bad service is much higher and longer lasting and permeates the atmosphere rapidly. Especially with the advent of the internet and social media, but we will come back to that. Over 95 percent of unhappy customers never complain, and those who do complain will tell up to 15 people about their bad experience. For this reason, you want to take steps to make sure your customers are happy and your reputation, especially in the media, is positive.

Respond to complaints in a timely fashion. Handle complaints in a professional manner that treats your customer with respect, and of course, always remember the personal touch. As more customers turn to Facebook and Twitter to air their complaints, pay close attention to social media so you can turn a bad experience into a good one.

Social Media and Online Interactions

Customer expectations are changing and growing just as rapidly as the different channels of technology. Consumers are now empowered with the ability to engage and encourage (if not demand) that brands and organizations embrace a strategy of non-stop, customer-centric adaptation.

While social media is transforming this space, most companies do a poor job of managing it. In the past, customers were pleasantly surprised to get a response on Twitter. Today, customers expect a response almost immediately. According to Twitter, over one million people view tweets about customer service every week. Roughly 80 percent of those tweets are negative. For this reason, it is imperative for entrepreneurs to not only leverage these digital mediums to engage but also to utilize tools that are now available to analyze interactions and engagement to gather data and generate useful feedback. Simply put, you will have a better understanding of how customers feel about your brand and the general perception of your organization.

According to Gary Vaynerchuk, “The Thank You Economy”

“People want this level of engagement from the companies with which they do business … even the best of what formerly passed for good customer service is no longer enough. You have to be no less than a customer concierge, doing everything you can to make every one of your customers feel acknowledged, appreciated, and heard. You have to make them feel special, just like when your great-grandmother walked into Butcher Bob’s shop or bought her new hat, and you need to make people who aren’t your customers wish they were. Social media gives businesses the tools to do that for the first time in a scalable way.”

Conclusion

Today’s consumers do not buy just products or services—more and more, their purchase decisions revolve around buying into an idea and an experience. When customers share their story, they’re not just sharing pain points. They’re actually teaching you how to make your product, service, and business better. It is undeniable that with the far reach and visibility that the internet and social media provide, engaging your audience on issues, especially those with negative experiences, can help to create a positive image. As an entrepreneur, you want to use this to your advantage, facing the difficult issues head-on. Standing by your product or service, ultimately building brand loyalty from the respect earned from simply doing what is right by your customer and business.