Last week we wrote about the changing face of customer service & how so very many different variables can alter our customer service experiences.

As a business owner, I apply many of the same policies & ideals I have done so since my school years of Saturday jobs, & the M&S & Tesco cashiering during my college years. I was always taught in any of these early experiences to be polite, to engage fully with the customer & be as helpful as I could at all times.

As a business owner alongside my partner, I have been able to develop & hone a very specific customer service role for us & as our business falls into the automotive sector bracket; we hope what we strive for reflects the fresh outlook we both have.

Therefore, what do we do as a business to strive for excellence in our customer service & customer experience? & how could this be applied to your business?

Communication

“From the very first communication, whether in person, by phone or email; we are as personable as is possible & both of us seem to have a natural aptitude to make people feel at ease. In the first instance our knowledge about the industry, the services we provide & the openness with which we speak with people; helps, we feel, to break down any pre-conceived ideas customers may have about the automotive industry. Secondly, our open & honest approach to pricing enquiries & estimates, seems to make prospective customers feel like we are already taking care of their motorcycle & their needs & we pride ourselves by letting them know that every single machine which comes through our doors, is looked after like it was our own.

Being able to make your prospective customer feel a sense of trust right from very first communication, goes a long way to securing the work & building a valuable relationship with them going forward.

There is nothing worse than collecting an automotive machine at the end of a service or repair & finding your invoice is way more expensive than you had been estimated or lead to believe. One way to avoid this is to always keep your customer abreast of any additional works you may have found are needed. We never undertake additional works without having first discussed them with our customer & we also ensure we have either an email or written message from the customer to confirm this. Keeping a written audit trail of communication & agreements protects both parties should any questions arise when the works are complete.

Once works are completed & invoices are raised, it is time for the tasks to be closed. Regardless of which industry you are in, having a good review about your work helps others to see that you are doing a good job. Once the works are complete & the invoice paid; always ask politely if the customer was happy with the tasks undertaken, if they could leave you a good review. It is not being presumptive, it is good business practise to do so.

Transparency & Social Media

One area where customer service can be missed, is in a companies social media presence. How you are portrayed & perceived through your social media & online presence, allows prospective customer & established customers alike to follow, support & take notice of the work you are doing & or your social media idealism.

In our business one of the greatest parts of our feedback, is due to the transparency of our business through the photographs of the work we are undertaking, being posted through our social media channels. Our customers feel assured that the works are being completed & that we are engaged with the tasks they have brought their motorcycle to us for. This extension of our open & honest way of engaging with our customers, can also engage more people & in doing so, sometimes gain more work from these posts.

Philanthropy & Ethical business

One way to engage with & assist with relationships with your customers, is to allow them to see how you function beyond the day to day running of your business. Sharing ideas from other businesses & or promoting another business which compliments your own; is a great way to enable customers to feel drawn to you as you are a business who can think beyond itself.

Ethical business is big business & more & more consumers are seeking out businesses who actively act in the interests of not only them, but communities, cultures, the environment & charitable organisations. Choosing to be transparent about your purchase choices or supporting a charity, is very much the way a company or business can let customers & clients know that they are thinking of others, beyond the business.

These are only a few of the ways in which I have learnt to strive for greatness when it comes to customer service & although I have been speaking about the automotive industry; these ideas can apply to any business model. There can be some challenging times, but if you know you are doing the very best you can to generate, to secure & develop the relationships with your customers; you will succeed. My adage for business & customer relations has always been “do unto others, as you’d hope they would do to you” It has, thus far, stood me in good stead”