Category: Sales & Customer Service

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How Quality Customer Service Can Boost Your Profits

It’s a new fiscal year for a lot of businesses. Targets are being set. Commitments are agreed. Customers are made promises.

And the big question that businesses face is how can they expect to grow and generate more revenue from their customer base and new customers if their customer service is not set at the highest of standards?

So, let’s take a step back and ask ourselves, what we can do to improve our service standard. I know it’s not rocket science, create happy customers and we’ll be the beneficiaries of their future business, right?

That’s all fine in theory, however, the customer service fundamentals need to be firmly embedded in the company culture. The service team needs to live, breathe and exude these principles and it must come across as positive in every single customer experience, whether it’s a phone call, an email, a live chat or a written document.

These are the building blocks that every customer service model can be built upon:

MAKE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION:

There will never be a better opportunity to stand out from the crowd than when a new customer is shopping around, and they encounter you. Be friendly, concise, careful not to push too hard and be respectful of their buying timeframe. Engage them in conversation and listen closely to what they need. Fulfil this interaction by completing any agreed follow up in a timely manner.

REDUCE YOUR RESPONSE TIME:

This can be an opportunity to stand out and exceed your customers’ expectations. A lot of businesses have their own turnaround times that suit them, but not always their customers. Having a habit or a mantra of consistently over-delivering builds trust long term. This article gives 5 ideas to reduce response times.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS:

Always invest in the time it takes to research about your customers. Your knowledge of how their business works and the challenges they face will serve you well during periods where you are developing the business relationship. Research their Company website, Linkedin page, TrustPilot reviews, Glassdoor or Facebook pages to really understand their business.

BE HONEST AND TRANSPARENT:

If I don’t know an answer to a question, I will always profess to do so. And this is the case when I’m dealing with my clients and my customers. Your honesty and openness will establish your credibility and your integrity in the eyes of your customer.

PUBLICISE ALL YOUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES:

A lot of businesses out there will only publish the 9/10’s or the 10/10’s for superior service or if they are seeking recommendations or business introductions.

FORM LONG-LASTING RELATIONSHIPS:

Adherence and making these factors a habit leads to increased levels of customer satisfaction, added long term value, longer serving customer relationships and higher streams of revenue year-on-year.

 

 

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Achieving Account Management Excellence

What DO Excellent Account Managers do differently?

 

There’s account managers who seem to just about do enough in terms of generating profitability. And then there is successful Account Managers who are critical to their business and the customers they serve.

This sounds familiar with account management teams across the responsible for developing account managers….so we’re asking the question….

Just what is it that they do differently?

 

What behavioural characteristics do they demonstrate that makes them the Account Management supremo?

There are several key traits that make up what an excellent Account Manager does and we thought we would share what we’ve noticed during our experience of working with account management teams.

COMMUNICATION EXPERTS

The great account managers will continually maintain all channels of communication and will often find themselves making dozens of calls in a day.

And it’s not just keeping their key contacts and stakeholders updated and informed as to what’s going on, but also suppliers and project managers. Excellent Account Managers will never fully ‘switch off’, they’re always available and will religiously check email and remain in the loop, even during periods of annual leave.

How do they do this? Simply put, they are masters of communication.

Superior account managers embrace the latest technology. They use multiple platforms to communicate in a versatile way with their client.

ORGANISATIONAL EXCELLANCE

They call on their organisational skills and are usually known for their ability to do so. Excellent account managers also can organise on a small or a large scale whether it’s a conference call with several parties, a business meeting or an event and their efficiency at organising these is always noticeable and evident. Their productivity is high and they can always call on the right support for the right customer project.

FORMING RELATIONSHIPS

A great account manager possesses excellent relationship skills. They will constantly strive to develop their personal relationships.

These do not happen overnight and are perfected over time and then used to open and establish what will become a long-lasting relationship. The adage that we’ve all heard goes ‘people buy from people’…. there may be an element of truth to that, however people buy value and quality based on a relationship of trust.

Great account managers take the time to understand their contacts, their business, their motivators, their issues, their headaches and what keeps them awake at night and will work on solutions…..they research tirelessly so they are prepared and never take things for granted. Great account managers care for their customers and will very often go the extra mile to ensure deadlines are met.

Another essential component in relationship building is that recommendations are given for new business opportunities emerge which can benefit the account manager.

 

THEY RESPECT BUT ALSO CHALLENGE

Account Managers who are more successful than other account managers  usually manage larger spending accounts and with added responsibility to their customers. They will not be afraid to tell a large spending account that they are potentially not making the right decision, or not selecting the right product or service. They will then present more options and see through to a solution.