Duct Tape Marketing

One thing that is difficult for many professional service providers is that they view their customers as little more than walking ATM machines who pay them money for services or products. The best customer service companies realize that they are dealing with real human beings who have to be dealt with on that level.  The following are 5 ideas on how you can help make your customer’s experience with your company rewarding as well as profitable.

Personal Touch:  The best thing you can do for your customers is talk to them.  It is one thing for a client to receive their service in an effective and timely manner.  But it is even more effective to support that service with a hand signed letter or a phone call.  This allows the client to feel like they are more than a statistic or source of revenue.

Don’t Avoid your Customers:  There is nothing more aggravating to a customer than being ignored.   While it is not always possible to take every call, if a customer leaves a message, you should always make it a policy to return customer calls as soon as possible. 

You Know More Than The Customer:    As a professional, you will always know more than your customers.  That’s why they hired you in the first place.  Just because you know a certain fact, it does not mean that they know it, even if the fact is “common sense” to you.  Make sure that in dealing with your customers that you explain things fully to them.

Keep it Simple:   Following from the previous point, it is always best to explain concepts to your clients in the simplest terms possible, at least at first  Specialized language can be very intimidating to the average person,  so it is best to moderate your use of industry terminology and verbiage until you are sure that the client can understand it.

Use Mistakes to Your Advantage:   Sometimes a customer will make a bad decision.  They will not take your advice and make a mistake in their business.  Instead of chastising them for the mistake or reminding them that you had given them different advice, use the mistake as an opportunity to show your client why the mistake happened.  This is not only a way to educate the client, but to show your knowledge without saying “I told you so