Customer Service Superheroes

We’ve added a new customer service policy at our website. Below is an excerpt:

Our customer service goal is not just to meet your expectations, but to exceed them.

Okay, that’s not true. Our real goal is to crush them to a fine powder, throwing them under Charon’s keel to drift down the River Styx, never to be heard from again. We want your expectations to know they don’t hold a candle to the reality we deliver.

There is, though, an obstacle.

Read the entire policy at my website.

Then let me know what you think!

Do Your Clients Feel Important?

Are you trying to grow your business during these difficult times? What can you do to retain your clients? In fact, you want to make them so happy with your services that they recommend your business to everyone they know.

The most important thing you can do for your clients is to make them feel important. Make sure you use their name and get to know them personally. If you come across an interesting magazine article or website you know they would find interesting, let them know about it.

Your client feels important when you respond to their inquiries in a prompt manner. Don't wait two or three days to respond to their voice mail message or email. Get back to them immediately if at all possible.

Send a card at a random time just to thank them for their business. If you can't provide what they need, help them find it somewhere else.

What do you do to make your clients feel important?

Choose Your Clients

That's right. Choose who you do business with. Not just those that provide services, but also your clients and customers. You'll find that you have clients that rave about you and your business. You want more clients like that.

On the other hand, there are times when your client or customer is not the right fit. You've done all you can to help them and they still aren't satisfied. These clients may deliver the wrong message to yet others. These are the ones you don't need and should let go. It's not always easy; but it's the right thing to do.

Walk the Talk Tidbits

The mission at WalkTheTalk.com is to provide you and your organization with high-impact resources for your personal and professional success.

I have a booklet called "144 Ways to Walk the Talk" and I'll be sharing tidbits from it now and then. On page five of the booklet, item #19 is "Deliver what the customer actually wants rather than what you think they ought to have. If you're not sure what they want, ask!"

One way to find out what your customers want is to use a simple survey to find out. A great online survey tool can be found at Survey Monkey.

What do your customers want?

Making Promises and Keeping Them

Next up on Seth Godin's list of What Every Good Marketer Knows is "Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand."

What does that mean to you. To me it means keeping my word no matter what - even if I lose. Of course it's best not to promise what you can't deliver. It's even better to under promise and over deliver. This builds a trusting relationship with your customers and you'll find that your customers refer you more often.

Building Loyal Customer Relationships Online

Building customer relationships is key to word-of-mouth referrals. Once your clients trust you and believe in your services, they willingly promote your business to people they know. So what are some ways you can build loyal customer relationships online?

One way is to write articles and give away some of your information. Give your prospects a reason to trust you by giving them something of value for free. Then watch them line up to purchase your services. You can also give them a free report, e-book, video, or audio to download when they sign up for your newsletter. Once your prospect learns more about you and your business in this manner, the more likely they are to feel a sense of trust in what you have to offer.

No one wants to get continuous sales pitches about why they should buy from you. However, prospects love to get tips, advice, and information. Communicate valuable information to prospects and build their trust in your expertise. Find out what your prospects want and then create marketing messages that appeal to those wants.

Repeat customers spend more than new customers. So stay in touch and give your customers something of value. Send a coupon or a notice of a special event. Send tips or a special report with information they can use. Keep in touch with your customers and they will be back.

What have you done to build your customer relationships online?