Customers are at the heart of every small business. So, for your small business to succeed, you must emphasize customer service. When you get it right, you’ll be rewarded by a growing company and feel pride in building relationships with your customers.
To give customers the desired experience, you need to set up protections through adequate physical and cyber security and commercial and cyber insurance products. You should also gather feedback so you can understand your customers better. Finally, you should focus on providing a personal touch.
Protection Is Customer Service
It’s hard to imagine a scenario worse for customer service than telling your customers that their personal information is stolen or compromised because someone hacked through your computer system. But even worse would be an event of physical harm at your office or retail location.
Cybersecurity
Your customer safety, both physically and virtually, is essential for building loyalty. Preventative measures should be your primary focus, but sometimes even the best plan fails, and that’s when you need insurance products.
Cyber insurance products can help you recover if someone hits your business with a ransomware attack or hacks into your database and steals information.
Physical Security
When planning for employee security, make sure you also plan for customer security. If you have a retail location, part of your business plan needs to provide for customer safety from outside threats and inside injuries. You should choose a safe place for customers to visit and offer security measures if needed.
You must also address the safety of your retail site and keep sidewalks clear, exits marked, and displays secure so that your customers don’t hurt themselves.
Similar to how liability car insurance protects other parties from damage caused by your vehicle, commercial insurance can protect your customers from the financial repercussions of injuries on your premises.
Every business owner should understand the importance of commercial insurance for protecting themselves from the risks associated with customer injuries, among other protections.
Feedback Provides Customer Insight
You can’t give customers what they want if you don’t know them. So follow up with customers and find out what you did right and how you could improve. You can send an email with a survey link. If you choose this method, make sure to provide an incentive to encourage customer responses.
Be careful to understand the value of receiving feedback. For example, if your business provides one-on-one services, have a conversation with your customers about what they expect from you and how you’ve met their needs in the past. Be sure also to ask what you can do to improve their future experiences. Then, make changes based on how they respond.
Personal Relationships in Customer Service
Small businesses are better able to provide a personal touch to their customers. That’s one reason people choose small businesses. They don’t want to be one of the millions. They want to be essential and know their patronage means something to the companies they frequent.
So, instead of seeking out ways to outsource customer service, find methods to keep the customer service in-house. Of course, there are times when outsourcing is a better option, but make sure that if you choose that route, you’re careful to go with a company that aligns with your values.
Customer service can help you improve customer retention and loyalty. Those customers will provide the foundation you need to grow your business and become the company people seek out because they know you’ll treat them right.
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