Customer Service is your number one advantage

I recently came across these statistics that show why customers leave a business that they've got a relationship with to try somewhere new.

This highlights how incredibly important customer service is to the health of your business.

No matter what sector you operate in, your business must be able to attract new customers as well as sustain and grow your existing relationships. The term 'customer service' becomes not just the way you answer the phone but the entire gamut of contact you have with each customer, whether they are new or existing.

As shown in the statistics above, this interaction with your customers can be disastrous if handled badly.

However, if you have excellent customer service this can be a major advantage to you. This is especially true for small businesses - often small businesses can have a closer and more natural relationship with their customers that leads to higher satisfaction for both parties, and a healthy small business in the process.

Making them happy makes you happy too

For example, recently a client's domain name was up for renewal, but her email address was no longer valid so the automatic renewal notices from the registrar were not reaching her. If she was dealing only with this larger company, the expiry date would pass and her domain would be lost.

Luckily, I knew that this client had recently moved to a new town and her email address and phone number had changed. I renewed her domain for her in the expectation that she would want to keep it going. I had her old work number and was able to leave a message and track down her current details, and after contacting her she was very thankful.

Now this process only took me a few minutes of time, but it's a service that she wouldn't have got from a larger company with more automation or a pool of anonymous contact people. In exchange for a couple of phone calls I have a very happy, impressed client that will likely be with us for a long time to come.

Having clients like that makes me happy too. Not only do we get the direct benefit of that person's ongoing business, but they will spread the word to their friends and colleagues.

If you're a small business operating in the current climate you need to be taking every advantage that you get, and customer service is one thing that you can naturally excel at if you take the time. It will help your customer retention, it will attract people who have been burned by your comeptitors, and it will improve your bottom line.

And besides, it feels good.