Is Quality Communication A Priority in Your Business?
As entrepreneurs, we know that communicating with our clients is an essential part of quality customer service. Staying engaged, following through, and following up is even more important when a problem arises. Failure to recognize the value of good, consistent communication can lead to serious customer service lapses that can leave your customers exasperated, and you wondering what happened to your business.
Customers understand that illnesses, emergencies, and accidents can throw customer communication off track but they have no sympathy for a cavalier attitude toward customer relations or worse, the deliberate choice to not engage a customer, especially when the customer’s expectations were not met.
Most of us have had at least one experience as a dissatisfied customer attempting to resolve a service problem, only to find that we hit the Wall of Silence. No one answers the phone, voicemail boxes are full, and emails receive no response.
Fortunately, most entrepreneurs are smart, hard-working people who want to communicate in a timely and professional manner. Sometimes business owners are simply overwhelmed by the day-to-day “back office” challenges that demand their attention, especially if they run a small or solo shop, and talking to a customer, especially an unhappy one, inadvertently falls to the bottom of the list.
So, how can busy entrepreneurs ensure their customer communication is everything it should be?
Make quality communication a business priority. Answer the phone or hire someone else to answer your calls. Use voicemail wisely. Let your customers know when they can expect to hear from you. Remember to regularly clear your voicemail so that there is room for callers to leave a message. If someone leaves you message, remember to call back!
Manage expectations. When working with clients, avoid promising things too soon and booking yourself too tightly. Build in some cushion so you have time to make adjustments if things go awry. When you know you cannot meet a requested deadline, be up front about it and propose a delivery date and time that works better for you – then meet that deadline. If you finish sooner than expected, you will be a hero. If you deliver on the date you promised, great!
Master the art of delegation. Trying to do everything on your own is a recipe for disaster and exhaustion. Handing off tasks to others you trust will reduce your stress and free up time for you to focus on the key, income-generating activities of your business like meeting with clients, negotiating contracts, and nurturing business relationships. Try delegating as many of your business-related tasks as possible.
Embrace technology. Wherever and whenever possible, use technology to automate business functions. It may seem counter-intuitive, but leveraging automation can free up more time for human interaction, especially for those revenue-producing and customer-retaining activities of your business.
Stay engaged with your customers, colleagues and clients, especially when things are not going as expected. You will convey a sense of ownership, professionalism and caring, which goes a long way toward building your bottom line.
