The Underrated Marketing Tool

Business owners spend a lot of time worrying about bringing in new business and rightfully so.   As we sit and worry about these customers we haven’t met, we often forget about the customers we already have.

Introducing customer service, the most underrated and underutilized marketing and sales tool that a business owner has at his/her disposal.

In the 1950s, Peter Drucker said that “there is no business without customers”.  It seems as if we forget that in this day and age.

We have all heard stories of good customer service, good and bad.

The big question that so many have is, “why can’t businesses get customer service right?”

This is good question and it’s often a question that we can answer for ourselves.  The same people asking the question are some of the same people giving bad customer service in their own business and in their current jobs.   When there is a large problem that needs to be solved, we often look at the problem in its entirety and decide that it’s too big for us.

The reality is that if you want to solve the problem of customer service, follow the advice of the late Michael Jackson and start with the man in the mirror.  If you are a business owner, what’s your companies’ approach to customer service.  You do have an approach right?  If you are an employee, how do you approach customer service?

Here are a few tips for both business owners and employees alike:

For Business Owners:

• Do you outsource your customer service functions including collections?  Should you?
• Do you have a set of articulated standards in place for your business that your team can follow when it comes to service?
• Are there systems present to put people in a position to succeed?
• Do you give your team autonomy to solve problems on the spot?

For Employees:

• Do you have a service attitude?
• Are you thinking about how you can take an additional step with the customer that is unexpected and goes above and beyond?
• Do you understand what your companies wants with regards to customer service?

Those are just a few questions you can ask with regards to service.  I think when we change our thought process on an individual level, we can then inspire the collective to follow suit.  In the meantime, start kicking ass with your own service and bury the other companies that work in your space.  In this day and age, if you want to get the word out about your product/service there isn’t  better tool than using the people who have already experienced what you have to offer and ensuring that the experience they talk to people about is a good one.

What are some examples that you have on great customer service?