With word-of-mouth being one of the most successful and sought-after forms of advertising, customer service is extremely important, always.
The way your employees treat your customers, the attitude and culture of your team, the tone of voice used during phone calls, and even how you engage with your audience via social media – these are all things that help consumers shape an opinion of your company in their minds.
It is vital to manage your team in such a way in order to ensure that customer service never gets overlooked. The goal is to surpass just satisfied customers and create raving fans.
When Disaster Strikes, Customer Service Cannot Be Overlooked
Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas have recently experienced a natural disaster. Lives were changed. Normalcy has gone out the window. Everyone is trying to get used to this new way of living: gutted homes, temporary living, applying for loans and grants, waiting on insurance adjusters, wondering what they can afford, seeing their ruined belongings picked up from the side of the road and hauled away, never to be seen again. In a time of crisis, people’s patience dwindles. They’re desperate, they’re tired, they’re frustrated. As our customer’s patience decreases, our patience as a business owner must increase.
A client/customer, whether current or potential, may act out of character during and after a catastrophic, life-altering event. We have to understand that they may be more irritable, on edge, and/or less pleasant than normal. In our understanding and in putting ourselves in their shoes, we can better sympathize and serve them.
Now is the time to pray for God to give you and your team wisdom, kindness and understanding with each client interaction. Pray for the strength to love and treat your customers like Jesus would and to keep them well-served.
Good (and Bad) Customer Service During a Crisis Affects Your Brand Perception
Social media (especially Facebook) was and has become so prevalent and pivotal during this Baton Rouge flood and post-flood. People are logged in and they are posting, sharing, liking and commenting. It is so important to make sure your business prioritizes customer service during this time. When people have a good experience somewhere, they desire to share it with others.
On the other hand, if a customer associates your brand with a negative experience (especially during a crisis), you can not only count on a verbal bashing of your business, but a negative social media post as well. You don’t want any negativity associated with your brand. You want your business to stand out among the crowd as reputable, kind and serving. One that goes above and beyond to help and serve others and its community.
Yes, customer service is important to prioritize all the time. However, when a disaster hits, more emphasis must be placed on customer service to ensure that your customers are well-served, comforted and that they want to keep coming back.
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