by Angela Taffs | Aug 4, 2015 | Customer service
I believe I have found a way for you to beat your competitors in a guaranteed way. This is just by delivering what you promise to do. Simples!!
I never cease to be amazed by the appalling service that so many companies still think is acceptable.
Just this past week I have encountered the following:
Laura Ashley promising delivery within 3 working days and yet 10 days later still no order received. Their customer service is non-existent with emails being ignored and a wholly incompetent customer service representative on the other end of the phone when I eventually got through.
I have booked flights with British Airways and encountered numerous problems on their site when trying to enter Advanced Passenger Information and reserve seats. Again, emails ignored until I took to social media. I then get an email telling me to follow the links on the website. But they don’t work! This was followed by no less than 8 failed attempts to speak to them by phone as after following the automated service it either went to a constantly engaged tone or cut off altogether.
I went to enquire about a new car from Nissan only for the salesperson to say he would email what they had and the prices. Why? I was there in the showroom potentially ready to buy. Was it because I was a lone woman and he didn’t believe I was serious without a man by my side? I emailed Nissan to complain about his attitude, got an automated response saying someone would be in touch within 48 hours and never heard from them again. Appalling!
Finally, a dodgy estate agent who is lazy beyond belief waits until the last minute to negotiate with the vendor on items he promised to do on day one. He then uses the cop out line that the vendors have changed their mind. I have reason to believe he lied through his teeth to get the sale and was just too incompetent to do his job properly. Suffice to say, when I come to sell in the future, this agent will be last on my list.
All of these instances I wish I could say were rare but are unfortunately all too common. Tradesmen who don’t return calls, or who come and give an estimate never to be seen again. If they don’t want the work, just say so. Cleaners who come to the office full of promises of how good they are only to leave a half done job that has to be redone. Financial advisors who promise information to be sent only for them to have to be chased continuously.
So if you want to beat your competitors hands down, try focusing on customer service. At the very least do what you say you will. And if you can go the extra mile, I bet those customers will be so impressed they will come back to you time and time again.
I am now going to start noting good and bad customer service and writing about examples of these. If you have any of your own that you would like to share, please pop over and add them on the Facebook page.
by Angela Taffs | Jun 8, 2015 | Sales and Marketing
We all spend so much time on our marketing and doing our utmost to gain new enquiries and turn these to clients. But how much time do you spend on past enquiries? Do you have any process in place for going back to those who haven’t yet bought from you and asking if they are still interested? Far too many small business owners don’t and it is one of the most effective ways of getting more customers.
These are warm leads that are right under your nose and could bring some much-needed income into your business.
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Just this week I met with a client in the wedding industry whose sales were a little slow. They were working every waking hour trying to drum up more business and came to me for marketing advice. I asked them how many enquiries they had had over the last six months and how many times they had contacted those that had not yet booked with them. They told me they didn’t have the time to do this and that they felt it was pointless as if these people were interested, they would have been in contact already.
Personally, I feel this is a very short sighted way of looking at things. Particularly in the wedding industry, and in many others, people will make enquiries to a number of suppliers before making a decision, and that decision can take a long time. It is the suppliers who keep in contact and make that extra bit of effort to make the potential client feel that they are valued that are likely to get the sale.
I managed to convince my client to humour me and take just a couple of hours the next day to call all past enquiries to ask if they had made a decision yet, and if not, did they have any questions or queries they would like to discuss.
I had a call to say that from just the first six past prospects called, 2 had booked my client for their wedding needs. Being a high ticket supplier, this has made a big difference to their bottom line.
So if you are serious about getting more customers, go back and look at your past enquiries. Try giving them a call to see if they are still interested in your product or service. Even if they have bought elsewhere, you can use the opportunity to ask what prompted their decision to go with an alternative source and if they are happy with their purchase. This will provide you with both valuable market research and it may just be that they are not happy and wish to switch to buy from you in the future.
You can also do this with past customers. Make sure you make the time to keep in contact with them and see if they wish to make an additional purchase. Please do not make the mistake that happened to me just this morning.
I phoned a health practitioner as I had not been for a while. I am a private patient so this is not a cheap service and I have spent a lot in the past. But when I phoned I was told that as they had not heard from me for a while they had deleted me from their system!!! What!!!
I was stunned. Customer service at its worst. Why on earth if they had not heard from me did they not send me a reminder via email? Or at least inform me that I would be deleted if I did not get in contact within a certain time. The result was that I hung up and booked myself in privately at another practice.
Continued customer contact is such a simple thing to do but so often overlooked. Set yourself up a simple system to act as a reminder to make future contact with everyone who either makes an enquiry or buys from you. You can get a free online CRM system which is easy to set up and can do this for you.
You never know how much potential income is just sat there waiting for the taking and how easy this method is for getting more customers.
by Angela Taffs | Feb 13, 2015 | Business Success, Personal and Lifestyle
I am finding that more and more as I go about my day, I am met with a complete lack of manners, etiquette and far from adequate customer service skills. In fact, it is quite remarkable to visit somewhere and be met with all these traits as standard anymore
So where does my passion for good manners and social etiquette come from? That is not too difficult a question to answer when I stop and think about it.
It is from my father.
When my sister and I were younger, he was a stickler for manners. Here is an extract from the eulogy I read at my father’s funeral just over 3 years ago.
Dad was also a stickler for etiquette. He instilled into my sister and me how to behave and woe betide us if we stepped out of line. These teachings have proven to be invaluable to me through the years but one memory still makes me chuckle. I had just started dating Nick when Mum and Dad invited him to our home for Sunday lunch. Nick duly turned up, lunch was had and all seemed well. However, I knew Dad too well, and knew that underneath the surface something was not right. After Nick went home I soon found out what. Dad was furious that someone had entered our house to have lunch on a Sunday whilst wearing jeans!! A cardinal sin in his book. He forbade me to go out with a man who did not know how to dress. Thankfully, Dad soon forgave Nick and when, as some of you often do, you see Nick out in his waistcoat and tie for what seems like a very informal gathering, you now know why.
My father really did install manners and etiquette into us from not putting our elbows on the table, never starting a meal until everyone had been served, dressing correctly for the occasion, how to stand with shoulders back and head held up when meeting people and of course the list could go on.
Today, it seems that anything goes. Mobile phone calls are taken during meals, gentlemen do not stand to greet a lady, people push through doors without holding it open for others and foul language is used as the norm.
Yes, some of these thoughts may now be considered old fashioned and outdated but the knock on effect as I see it is a rapid decline in customer service from staff who have never learnt the basics of manners and who show a complete lack of respect to individuals considering spending money at their business premises.
So I am on a mission. A while ago I read today that Russell Brand was starting a revolution with regard the political parties and their lack of interest in the ‘normal’ people of this world.
My mission is to start a revolution with businesses to up their customer service standards and treat individuals who are spending their hard earned cash with a little more respect and to use some basic manners. As I go about my day, I shall be revealing my discoveries of the good, the bad and the ugly. We have food hygiene ratings in food establishments. Why not have customer service ratings?
If you have any stories you would like to share, please feel free to let me know.
by Angela Taffs | Jan 29, 2015 | Running a Business, Sales and Marketing
Three times just lately, I have made contact with someone through social media and expressed an interest in what they do. Each time they have message me and promised to send me some information. And each time, they have failed to deliver! Are they aware this is a classic way of losing clients?
Now, perhaps they are getting so many messages they don’t need my business and aren’t interested in me. But if that is the case, then just tell me in the first place. Bad news travels far faster than good and if anyone ever asks me about any of these businesses, I will not hesitate to tell others not to bother with them.
And quite frankly, it is just bad manners.
It could, of course, be a case that they have simply forgotten. But if that is the case, it is even worse for their business as they are missing out on potential income and are losing clients who could go on to be quite profitable for them. If you are busy and cannot deal with enquiries immediately, ensure you have a system set up to remind you to send out information that you have promised to. If you have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system such as , then great. Enter details into there and allocate yourself a task. At the simplest end, have a paper diary and make a note in there.
At the top of most customer’s lists, by far, when dealing with a company is that they keep their word. So if you promise something and then fail to deliver you will not only be losing clients, you will also lose your business reputation.
Regardless of how this mismanagement of your potential clients affects your business, think how it affects them. There is a saying that it is not what you say to someone, but it is how you make them feel. By promising something and then never getting in contact again, you may make the person feel undervalued and worthless. There is a real danger that some of these people may be having a tough time in their personal life and this ‘small’ omission on your part, could add to their feelings of worthlessness. I am writing this because I have seen this happen, and until I did, I didn’t realise the impact that we, as small business owners can have on other people’s lives. A simple thing that we don’t think really matters, can have a huge impact on the person at the other end.
I am not saying that you have to responsibility for other people’s personal issues, but I am saying stop and think when making promises you are not going to keep. Next time someone asks you for something, think twice before blindly saying you will send something on or do something. Be realistic. Tell them if you are too busy. Tell them if you don’t think you can supply what they want, when they want, or even if you don’t think they are the right client for you.
Being honest could stop you losing clients and save both your business reputation and hurt feelings for your lost client.
by Angela Taffs | Jan 8, 2015 | Sales and Marketing
How just two minutes of your time can increase sales revenue
So that time of year is well and truly upon us and the shops are bursting to the seams with shoppers looking to spend their money.
And this is where customer service can make that all important difference to whether shoppers choose your business to part with their hard earned money or whether to take it and spend elsewhere.
Customer service excellence has always been and will always be one of the critical competitive advantages for any business and is a vital element if you want to increase sales.
I was in London last weekend looking to find some purchases for loved ones. I had the money in my purse and wanted to spend. But after going into one particular retailer, who had what I wanted, the customer service experience left me cold. The sales assistant was obviously disinterested in helping me and couldn’t even muster up so much as a smile. Therefore, I decided I would look elsewhere to find the item I wanted.
On the flip side, when I visited House of Fraser on Oxford Street I had no intention of buying anything there. I was there whilst my daughter was looking and at one point, we both stood still looking around us trying to decide which department to visit next. A gentleman stopped and asked if he could help. It immediately became apparent that he was in senior management and had a lady with him holding files, diary and clipboard.
He was so helpful and genuinely cared if we could find what we were looking for, to the point that he turned to the lady with him and told her to go on the meeting and let the others know he would be there shortly. He didn’t just point us to the direction of what my daughter was looking for but took it upon himself to start looking for the particular item and when a salesperson appeared, asked them to carry on helping us.
I have to say that impressed me enough to decide to make some purchases in the store which I had not initially intended to make.
This level of customer service cost the store nothing and took probably no more than two minutes of time, but the payback from the way we were made to feel and the amount we then spent was significant.
So think of those little things you can do to make your customers feel special and valued if you want to increase sales. Let them know you care. Yes, it may take a couple minutes extra of your time but you may just see a significant improvement in your sales revenue and stand out from your competition.
Have you had a good customer experience recently? Share your experience in the comments below.
