Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Few startup business owners seem to have a master strategic plan. We tend to know about putting together a business plan, laying out the financials, estimating sales, and so on, but that`s not the same thing.

A strategic plan involves the overall approach to how you`re going to run your business, year after year. That strategy can certainly change, but only if it exists in the first place.

One of the fundamental issues each entrepreneur has to face is what will be the "personality" of the business. How will the public come to know this business? Will it have a "face" or will it be just a name and logo on a Web page or billboard or invoice?

Whether you want it or not, you`re going to be perceived by the public in some fashion. Without a strategy, you won`t even know what you look like. It`s like going through life without caring what you look like, how you dress, or how anyone sees you. One way or another, everyone you pass by will make a judgement about you, whether or not you want that to happen.

Customer service is a process. It`s also your most basic way to create a business personality. Selling something is much less personable, if you think about it. You put up a shopping cart, someone clicks something, they send you money, and you send them a box. But that`s not at all the case with customer service!

Lots of people think of customer service as solving problems. A few people think of it as follow-up, and even fewer know that you can use customer service as a way to generate repeat business. How come?

When someone emails you, calls you, writes you, or comes into your brick-and-mortar location, they`re being specific. They want to talk with a real person about something that matters to them! They may have a simple question about procedure, or it may be a complex request for unusual shipping. There might be a question about customization, or perhaps asking for professional discounting.

Whatever the case may be, you can handle these situations in a spontaneous way, depending on your mood at the time. Or, you can have in place a specific approach---your goal in customer service. It`s no different than how you`ll meet people in a crowd. You can say nothing unless someone "bothers you," or you can learn how to introduce yourself, start a conversation, and be friendly.

Good customer service means not only solving problems. It also means creating a friendly and fun shopping experience! That includes how you design your Web site, your store, and the checkout procedures. You can come across grumpy, making your customers work as if you`re doing THEM a favor. Or, you can understand that the customer is doing YOU a favor by spending money on you!

Developing a customer service policy---an overall strategy---is as simple as choosing between two main options. Either you deal with customers as an afterthought, keeping your mind always on how much more money can you squeeze out of them; or, you can focus on building a great reputation.

"Go Big, or Go Home!" That`s an example of focusing on money, operations, expansion, and the financial bottom line. It assumes that customers fall out of the sky like rain from the clouds, for the most part. But is that the way you, personally, want to be seen?

On the other hand, all that operational sweat will cost you money in marketing, returns, mediocre ratings, and poor word of mouth. Instead, if you focus on building a personality, maybe something like Ben & Jerry`s, you`ll likely grow just as much without all that money to "overcome" public relations problems.

craig great post. Lots of companies overlook customer service, I personally think that as a small business we have the ability to offer better customer service than a large corporation. I know all our customers leave our salon satisfied, we make darn sure of that.

:-) Thanks, Tikki.
What interests me is the long-term profit and expansion of good customer service. I think it`s what built Wal-Mart---that and prices. I also think that no matter how big a company might be, lackadaisical customer service will eventually ruin them.

(That goes for Congress, too!)

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I wonder how many people consider personal etiquette to be the same as customer service? For example, when you send someone an email, do you expect to get back a response? I`m not talking about a newsletter or forwarded joke, but an email something along the lines of asking for directions to someplace.

What about Thank-You cards? I grew up learning that to send a thank-you was more than being just polite. It also let the sender know that you actually received whatever was sent.

Carry that over into business. How many companies send confirmation numbers along with a notice that an item has been shipped? What about a follow-up thank you for someone`s business? Can we say that the way people handle their personal social relationships likely mirrors how they run their business customer service?

Great topic Craig! I haven`t seen your posts lately... I hope all is well.

Every time I call the phone company, cable, credit card companies, banks... you name it, I get so aggravated before I even talk to a person. Customer service is non-existent.

I at one time thought that a company that can specialize in re-training major corporate America in customer service can be a valuable corporation in this country. Imagine if just the hold times were reduced. Maybe consumers would have some kind of loyalty again, profits would rise and this country might not be in the slump that we are in, (however there are other things that are wrong with this country, but this is good for another thread.)

And yes... we are getting used to not talking to our customers and prospects thanks to e-mail.

There already are lots of companies to supposedly re-train corporate customer service departments, suggest ways to improve, and so forth. The problem I think, is that it`s too expensive. Yet nobody seems to want to define what "too much" means relative to expenses---other than to say it cuts into profits.

Those that sell products and services don`t make much money at all and don`t have great customers.

Those that sell customer service are able to sell whatever product or service they want, for almost whatever price they want, and have customers for life.


Aaron



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So true Aaron, shoppers like to buy from people they like. Put the product and/or service aside and if the salesperson is a real jerk, he will be far less successful than a person who can develop a relationship with his customers.

One order for a product or service is just that, one order.  But if a client keeps coming back to you due to superior customer service, this is a customer for life!


jack