Excellent Customer Service & its Positive Affect on Your Business

Transcription

1 Excellent Customer Service & its Positive Affect on Your Business A REPORT FOR MEMBERS OF THE EDUCATION MARKET ASSOCIATION PRESENTED BY RIEVA LESONSKY

2 Rieva Lesonsky SmallBizDaily.com Twitter.com/Rieva Welcome!

3 What is customer service? Do you think it s about calming angry customers?

4 Creating an end-to-end customer experience

5 Your #1 job your customers. Their expectations are higher than they ve ever been & their options are far more numerous.

6 Customer service basics Website Store Employee education & training Employee empowerment Social media

7 Do you have a website? It doesn t need to be fancy but EVERY business needs an up-to-date basic website. List your: Phone number Address Hours Products & prices Map & directions Use images Make it mobile (responsive design)

8 Is your store welcoming? Quick checklist: Clearly-marked entrance? Easy parking? Well-lit? Updated window displays? Are customers greeted as they walk in the door? Uncluttered shelves & aisles?

9 Employee education So easy for customers to find information about what you re selling & where else they can find it. Your employees MUST be educated about your products & be able to answer questions, make suggestions & offer expert advice. Do you know what showrooming is? Fight back: Emphasizing get it today Easy returns Extras

10 Employee empowerment Do you allow your staff to make decisions? If they have to find you every time a customer is unhappy, that customer is only going to get angrier. Set parameters, but within those guidelines, give your employees leeway to make their own decisions about how to satisfy customers.

11 Social media Who s active? What s your fave? Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Google+ Pinterest Instagram

12 Best social media for marketing to consumers Facebook drives 74% of referral traffic Use images (67% more clicks) Deals & sales

13 What are customers saying about you? Do you know? Social media Google Alerts Ratings & review sites Yelp!

14 Yelp! can help your business Yelp = today s word-of-mouth 72% of consumers TRUST online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations from someone they know. 90% of Yelp users say positive reviews affect their purchasing decisions 93% of people doing research on review sites end up buying from the businesses they find there.

15 Using Yelp! Get familiar with Yelp. Look up other local businesses. Unlock your FREE account & set up a business page. Fill out your profile. Include links to your business website, photos of your location/menu items/products, hours you re open, directions, phone number, etc. Interact. Don t solicit reviews, but do say, Check us out on Yelp!

16 Bad review? Remain calm. Do NOT get defensive. Take the discussion offline so you can resolve the issue without the world watching. Post an update when the problem is handled. PREVENT PROBLEMS Be active on your Yelp page. Check in daily & respond to positive & negative reviews. Perception of a caring business owner. Gain credibility among potential customers. Boosts your rank within Yelp.

17 Are you selling what customers want? Last time you updated inventory? Added new products? SHIFT with the TIMES Logoed merchandise Do you sell to Scout troops? After-school clubs? You don t sell tech. But you CAN sell tech accessories. Cases & stylus Thumb drives Screen cleaners Head & ear phones

18 How to stand apart from the big-box stores Personal touches throughout your store Carry unique merchandise Need a Hi Norm attitude Does your staff know your regulars?

19 Community List on local search engines Google+ Local, Bing Local, Local.com Join in with other local businesses Small Business Saturday Shop Local movement Alignable.com

20 Be a good neighbor Social/local causes/charities Sponsor a sports team Hold fundraisers Attend fairs, community-events Be active! Be visible!

21 How are you doing?

22 The bottom line It s a simple formula:

23 Rieva Lesonsky SmallBizDaily.com Twitter.com/Rieva Thank you!