Is customer service part of sales and marketing?
I recently had a conversation with a local plumbing company business owner and he was surprised when I said a solid customer service program is a big part of sales and marketing. After digging a little deeper and interviewing many business owners I found that a very low percentage classified customer service along sales and marketing. Great, not just good customer service is all about the keeping your customers so your business can continue to grow.
Look at it this way, in sports you win more games with defense than you do with offense and it's the same in business. If the back door is open then your customers come in and go out just as fast. This is a recipe for disaster, because it cost 5 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer.
Customers don't want to keep jumping around looking for a better service. Human nature is to find something they like and stay with it. People just don't have the time to keep looking for the better service.
Once your customer is happy it's time to wow them and keep them. Wowing a customer can turn them into a sales machine, someone who loves you so much they want to keep referring business to you. The wow factor is so easy to incorporate into your business because your competitors are doing the very least to keep their own customers happy.
A great customer service experience is all about the little things.
- Smile when you answer the phone
- Deliver what you promise
- Keep in contact with your customers often
- A thank you card in the mail
- Timely communication
- Deliver amazing results
- Be open an honest
- Communicate with a personality
- Be resourceful
- Reward your customers for just being customers
- Go above and beyond
Bring the wow factor in your business today and watch your business grow to a whole new level.