Online Presence
There are many ways to help your business stand out from the crowd. Don’t under estimate the importance of your own website showcasing your business. Many business relationships start online now, particularly through search, which means that it’s critical that companies do everything they can to show up with relevant, up-to-date and useful information on their website.
There are many ways to help your business stand out from the crowd. Don’t under estimate the importance of your own website showcasing your business. Many business relationships start online now, particularly through search, which means that it’s critical that companies do everything they can to show up with relevant, up-to-date and useful information on their website.
Another important task to complete is to verify and/or update your Business Profile on Google. Make sure your business profile on Google is completely filled out, including your current location, hours, services, photos, and links to your most recent blog posts.
Provide Legendary Customer Service
Treat your customers like royalty, to an extent, even if you are not in the service industry. The belief that customer service only matters in the service industry is a myth. All customers have an expectation of great service and will not put up with waiting in long lines or receiving poor responses from representatives. Around 75% of customers state that they consider customer service a true test of a company’s competence. There are many small companies that do really well in business, generally prioritise the importance of a great customer service offering, and frequently increase business with loyalty-generating power of remarkable customer support.
Admit Mistakes and Fix Problems to Build Stronger Relationships
Customers equate experience with brands. If they have even one bad experience that remains unresolved, they will write off the brand. And negative feedback spreads like wildfire through social media and word of mouth. You need to be on top of your game to improve the customer experience, sometimes by going far out of your way. One major point is to accept your mistakes, whether they are your fault or not. Customers prefer businesses that own up to their mistakes and take steps to correct them. In fact, customer relationships can actually be stronger after a problem than before, if handled well by your people.
Be Honest About Your Products and Services
Honesty is not just the best policy; it should be your main policy. Can’t deliver by a due date? Call and let your buyers know. One of your field reps messed up on a bid? Immediately have a tough conversation with your client. Lying to customers is like shooting yourself in the foot. If your customers catch you lying, they will lose faith in you and may even spread negative feedback about your business. One common form of dishonesty in business is failing to share bad news. In reality, the faster you share bad news, the more your customers will respect you. Just make sure you follow up with solutions as mentioned in #2 above.
Come Up With Something New
Continue to reinvent your company by adopting emerging technologies and introducing new processes, products and solutions. For example, make use of social media and mobile apps as a growing number of buyers prefer to find and work with you through their phones. All of these attention-grabbers help businesses stand out from the crowd; however, to be effective the underlying product or service must be at least up to par.
Offer a Guarantee
Can you guarantee next-day delivery? Are you confident enough in your product or service to stand behind it 100%? If so, guarantee it. Adding this type of assurance to your marketing message shows customers and prospects that you truly care about their satisfaction. The only thing you need to remember is that you must back up your guarantee if and when the time comes.
THANK YOU
I would like to show my appreciation for this information and strategies by giving a shout out to Larry Myler a contributor of B2B sales strategies on forbes.com.