With the highly competitive business environment nowadays, every business owner is facing one or two challenges where making success is the survival of the fittest. Those who can adapt will succeed and thrive, while those who are inept will see their business suffer a slow and inevitable death. Therefore, one of the ways of making business success is through good customer service.

Good customer service will help you to create long-term loyal customers; who will be willing to refer your business to their family, friends, colleagues, etc. Providing excellent customer service to your customers comes from your desire to satisfy them beyond selling your products or services to them. It is necessary to treat your customers just as you would treat your family, it is not by talking them down or looking for other ways to extract money from them, it is by providing value for their money. 

Smart business owners know the advantages of their customers having a good experience, at the same time, they know the huge disadvantages of losing a customer to a competitor, and this may cost them thousands or million-dollar business losses. Even, if you are thinking of replacing the lost customers with new ones, think again about what it takes. This is because it costs six to seven times of money and effort to get a new customer than to retain the existing ones.

If you are serious about getting new customers for your business, you have to look inward and ask yourself these crucial questions:

            What makes my business different?

             What added value is my business bringing to the table?

Why should a customer patronize my business instead of my competitors?

If you can answer the above questions and implement the solutions to your business, you will make loyal and repeat customers.

To get more customers to your business, below are the ways you can learn and improve your customer services skills:

HAVE EXPANSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

Providing good customer service requires you to have expansive knowledge about the products and services you are selling. You, alongside your staff that will be facing customers, should know how your products or services work, discuss features and uses, and show how the product or service can be of benefit to them. Be conversant with your customers’ most frequently asked questions, and know how to give them articulate answers that will leave them satisfied and happy.

LISTEN ATTENTIVELY TO THEM

 Listening skills are one of the means of having effective communications with others. This is a simple secret of good customer service; it means hearing and understanding what your customers are saying, as well as what they are communicating non-verbally. Look out for the signs of displeasure in them while you listen to what they are saying directly.

SHOW RESPECT TO THEM

Most times customer service involves the use of emotions, that is why it is important to ensure you and other staff who will be handling customer inquiries are always courteous and respectful. This is when you need emotional intelligence to handle them, as humans are dynamic, never let your emotions to override your desire to make customers have a good experience. No matter how difficult a customer is, you can still use good attitude to retain him or her. 

RESPOND FASTER TO THEIR ENQUIRIES

Responding to customers’ queries as quickly as possible is a sign of good customer service, and that that is why it is necessary to be responsive always. Most customers don’t want to waste their time in a ticket queue or take time before their issue is resolved. Therefore, get back to your customers as quickly as possible with the answers to their issues, and don’t close their ticket or hang off the phone without completely satisfying them.

TURN CUSTOMERS MISTAKES TO MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE

There is a popular saying that; “customers are always right”, even though the customer is wrong. Sometimes, it may not be your business that makes a mistake but the customer, when this occurs, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t provide solutions to the mistake. Providing solutions to customers’ mistakes shows how truly your business cares about its consumers, and this will also amaze the customer who made such a mistake. He or she might use this experience to market your products or services to others, thereby increasing your customers.