How to give great customer service in 10 steps.

Today I want to talk about customer service. As a customer who relies on a few suppliers I value those who give great service the most. And most of my experience with the small businesses I have been dealing with has been positive. This applies to my eBay sellers and also to my regular suppliers like Craft Cellar, from whom I tend to buy my clays.

When things go wrong, such as broken items or items that are missing, I rarely have a problem communicating this to my suppliers. Most of them instantly rectify the problem and go out of their way to make things right. Sometimes they even reward me for my loyalty and this is how it should be.

Unfortunately, big companies don’t often work that way. As I am writing this I am still waiting for a package that I sent off in March to my sister in Germany that never got there. I have been on the phone to the Royal Mail three times chasing the package. It’s now in Belfast because I didn’t leave my own return address and that’s where lost or re-directed mail goes. My own fault, but I seriously expected that after paying over £10 and sending it signed for international to have it tracked it would arrive at its destination. Only that it didn’t – and apparently the Deutsche Post is to blame this time, as for some strange reason they claimed they couldn’t deliver it as nobody was home. Which begs the question, how they operate, because normally you would leave a card in the letter box so that the recipient can pick up the package.

When my sister told me after four weeks that the package still hadn’t arrived, I finally filled in a complaint form for which I had to find all my receipts. Obviously this took me some time.Two weeks later I was informed that they are sending it back to me within two weeks’ time. That was on the 29^th of April. It’s almost June. What I don’t understand is why they can’t send it back to Germany where it was supposed to go? Apparently they can’t. And after asking why I wouldn’t get my postage refunded I was just told that Royal Mail has fulfilled their part of the deal. Only that so far they haven’t. To be fair the people I talked to on the phone were all nice and polite.

It’s very frustrating. It was supposed to be a birthday gift. Then there is the time and energy spent chasing the package and having to endure the Royal Mail’s appalling automated phone system. It takes about 3 minutes to actually get to talk to a human being.

So I am still waiting and grumbling.

Another example is BT – we have been with them since moving here and they are my internet provider. The speed we get is not as fast as it should be, but what really annoys me is that they simply don’t get that customers should be rewarded and not ignored for their loyalty. I always see adverts for new and cheaper BT deals to attract new customers while we are stuck with the same tariff. Of course, there is a solution – I could change the provider. But this is a lot of hassle and I don’t think I would necessarily get better service elsewhere as all of the big companies seem to operate on the same principle.

Unfortunately, we do rely a lot on big companies where great customer service is not priority and who seemingly can also afford to lose customers.

However small business owners like me can’t – it only takes one unhappy customer to tarnish your reputation and damage your business.

So what should great customer service look like?

1. Don’t be pushy – pushy sales people are off-putting and when I encounter them they automatically lose a sale. Thankfully this is an easy to avoid mistake if you are mainly selling online.
2. Communication is essential: Always reply to emails from your customers or potential customers and be as helpful as possible with their queries. Exception: if you can determine the sender is actually just spamming you (and believe me my inbox receives some dodgy or spammy mail).
3. Make sure you tell your customers when you ship the item and inform them if things get delayed. If you can’t ship an item immediately let them know and give them an estimated shipping date.
4. Don’t rely on an automated phone service – it’s off putting. I can be reached mainly via email and my mobile phone.
5. Before shipping double check the item you are about to ship. I often go through my inventory to see if everything is still in working order and needs a polish. And I always check things over before they get packed.
6. Package your items carefully and give it some nice finishing touches. You don’t want them to arrive in a broken state. While I use recycled outer packaging such as envelopes and boxes, the jewellery is packaged in some nice boxes and often with a nice ribbon. I use pouches mostly when selling face-to-face, but tend not to use them when I send items.
7. Make double sure you have the correct contact details and address. You don’t want to end up losing the item just because the address is wrong!
8. Always thank your customer every step of the ordering process. Politeness goes a long way. I always enclose a personal note in all my orders.
9. Reward loyalty. You could offer a special discount to repeat customers or a small gift. For the latter it is helpful to know what the customer likes e.g. colours, beads, style. Some suppliers I deal with sometimes enclose samples with my order or a pack of sweets. These small things certainly make me remember them.
10. If a customer reports a problem with an item – make sure to resolve it as quickly as possible and fuss free. People make mistakes and if your customer gives you a chance to rectify a problem, it’s an opportunity for you to show your great customer skills.

There you have it. These are my top tips for great customer service.

Can you think of more? Please share your thoughts below.

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Thanks for reading.