Customer service is one of the best ways to offer a point of difference from your competitors. So it’s a great way to market your business. Here are 4 ways you can market customer service to give your business an edge:
Word of mouth
By far the best way to market your customer service is to have your customers do it for you. This only happens when customers are happy with their experiences. So it’s really important to make sure the impression you give fits the service you give. If you keep costs low by not having a lot of service staff – do not market your business for service. Market it on price.
On the other hand, if you have great service and plenty of staff there will be an additional cost to that. So don’t market yourself as a budget brand. People will make their own minds up on the value. If they know what they’re going to get before they walk in your door. And they get that or even something better than they expected – then they’ll be more likely to recommend you. Another benefit is that you’ll probably find the customers that are referred to you are the customers you most want.
Referral programs
While this is similar to word of mouth, a referral program means there’s something in it for the customers who send referrals your way. If you’re going to take this approach make sure there’s something that your customers think is worth the recommendation, whether it’s a discount, a gift, referrals from your business in return or something else – if your customers don’t want it then you won’t get the referrals. It’s worth noting that the referrals might not be as good as straight word of mouth referrals as it’s more likely that they will be made for the reward rather than to help a friend out.
However, you’re likely to get more referrals than you would by just waiting for word of mouth referrals to happen, so you may end up with the same number of leads at the end of the day. And there’s nothing wrong with running a referral program for a while to get the idea of referrals in your customers minds then removing it sometime later. Just make sure you give plenty of notice that you’re discontinuing it as making customers feel they’ve been duped or ripped off will get the wrong type of mentions all together!
Service Guarantees
A service guarantee will let your clients know what to expect when they use your business. Even though it really means very little to you in terms of changing how you do business, it gives your client a sense of security. All you need to do is make sure that any guarantee you give is for levels of price or service that you have no trouble maintaining. There’s no point offering a guarantee of a service level that you can’t meet on a regular basis. That’s only going to annoy your customer and your staff and make you look untrustworthy.
Testimonials
Testimonials are another way to let your clients market your business for you. It’s a good idea to display them on your website and on any social media accounts that allow testimonials. If you want to use testimonials to market your business, you need to be comfortable with asking for them. Very few customers will offer them off their own bat. I’ve seen quite a few businesses send out an email after the transaction is completed asking if you’d leave a testimonial. I think this is a very good way to handle them. You get the customer while the experience is still fresh in their mind, and hopefully you’ve given them such a positive experience they’re happy to write good things about you. It may help to include a guide to help people find the right wording. Something along the lines of:
I got Sharyn to {insert the type of work done}. She {what did you like most about the service}. Which has {what it’s done for you}
There’s no reason you need to settle for just one of these ways to market your customer service. There’s also no reason you can’t combine more traditional marketing, social media and online marketing. In fact, the best marketing combines all of the options that help you to reach your ideal client group.
If you’d like some more ideas, check out my previous marketing posts
Click here to book a complimentary 30 minute catch up to discuss how I could help you with your marketing.
