Customer care

1.1 Respond to emails promptly and answer the phone swiftly.

Make sure your out-of-office email and phone messages are up to date, provide alternative contact details or make it clear when you will respond.

• Provide information immediately, or let customers know when they can expect it.

  Return your emails and calls. If you say you will send a quote by Friday, keep to that deadline.

1.2 Concentrate your efforts on the needs of the customer - not on what it would suit you to sell.

1.3 Use your person-to-person skills, especially when meeting face to face.

• Greet your customers as if you are pleased to see them. Learn their names, and use them.
• Be polite, friendly and positive.

  Smile, make eye contact and look and sound enthusiastic. Speak clearly.

• Use physical contact. Shake hands when appropriate.
• Show a personal interest. There is almost always time to discuss non-business matters. Be a good listener.
• Make sure your appearance - and the look of your premises - will convey the right image.

2.1 Provide the most convenient service.

• Organise delivery schedules that take account of the customer's needs.
• Offer the longest and most convenient hours of opening you can afford.

2.2 Set low minimum order levels, especially for regular customers.

2.3 Minimise the amount of paperwork your customers have to do.

2.4 If things go wrong, inform customers as soon as possible, in order to keep disruption to a minimum.

• If a delivery is likely to be delayed, give as much notice as possible.

2.5 Sell your customers only the products that suit their needs, not the products that will make you the most profit in the short term.

• Give unbiased, realistic advice even if it means no immediate sale for you. Nothing builds trust more effectively.

3.1 Choose reliable suppliers who will not hold up your own production and deliveries.

3.2 Make use of technology.

• Use your website to provide customers with information on products and services.

  You can also use it to allow customers to place and track orders. Make sure information from your website can be tranferred to your main database.

3.3 Check your production procedures.

• Remove any bottlenecks that could cause unnecessary delays.

3.4 Set up a production process that ensures no defects, rather than relying on inspection of the finished product.

3.5 Establish systems and cross-checks to ensure that every order is correctly executed (the right amount of product to the right address on the right date).

3.6 Set up a simple returns procedure for any rejected goods.

4.1 Offering excellent after-sales service is often an inexpensive way of setting your business apart from the competition.

• Explain what level of service is provided - and any cost - at the time of the sale.
• Following the sale, send a courtesy email or call to check that everything is all right.
• Ask customers to complete a customer satisfaction survey on your website.

  Keep it short and specific.

• Encourage customers to contact you if they have any concerns.

  You can address any issues before they escalate into a full blown complaint.

• Send customers information on related items that might help them prolong or get more value out of items they have purchased.

4.2 Consider how you will stay in touch.

• Make full use of your customer database.

  For example, send regular email updates or newsletters about new products or special offers that might be of interest.

• Visit or call your customers - or invite them to your premises - to discuss their changing needs and new ways in which you can help them.

  It may be helpful for your customers' technical or accounts staff to meet their opposite numbers in your business.

• Use advertising as part of the process of keeping the contact going.

  It can help reassure customers about your business and its products.

• Give customers the names and contact details for their account manager and other key contacts.

  Key customers can be given out-of-hours contact numbers in case of emergencies, where appropriate.

• Contact customers that have lapsed.

5.1 Encourage complaints and deal with them effectively. Ask customers to complete a short questionnaire after making an online purchase or have a dedicated feedback mechanism on your site.

• Show sympathy - apologise for the fact that the customer is upset ('I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed').
• Listen to what the customer has to say.
• Establish the facts.
• Agree what you will do.
• Give your name, so customers know who is taking responsibility for the problem.
• Keep the customer informed and deal with the problem promptly and politely.

Most complainers just want to make a point.

5.2 If you just listen, and sympathise, you are well on the way to turning the complainer into a committed customer.

• If you do not listen - or are defensive - the complaint will escalate.

  The customer will not buy from you again and may also try to put other people off.

5.3 Give your frontline employees the authority to deal quickly with complaints themselves.

• Well-handled complaints are a great way of creating loyal customers.

6.1 Prioritise your resources.

• Work out which customers are the most profitable, taking into account the cost of providing them with the service they require.
• Bend over backwards to please your best customers. The extra service has already paid for itself.
• For your average customers, offer extra service only if you expect to get a fair return on the expense involved.

6.2 Set standards.

• The service offered by competitors provides a basic standard below which you cannot afford to fall.

6.3 Try to pinpoint where good service or presentation would impress customers.

• Do customers expect to be greeted at reception by a uniformed or smartly dressed employee?
• Does your packaging look good when the products are delivered?

Think about where poor service would discourage customers and lose you business.

6.4 Keep track of whether you meet the standards you have set.

• Ask customers whether they are getting the service they expect.

  Try placing an order and see what happens.

• When incidents occur and you fall below your usual standards, recognise what has happened, apologise to the customer and find out the root cause of the failure.
• A log of customer feedback will help you identify problem areas.
• Periodically ask all your customers:

'What would you want to change or improve about our product or service? What else can we do to improve our offer?'

6.5 If, like many start-ups, you depend on a few customers who give you repeat business, customer care takes on even greater importance.

• Keep records on each customer company and on key individuals in the company. This way you will be able to keep track of the information.

  For example, note down what, when and how much each customer buys, and their preferred delivery dates. That way you can make sure you have the product and quantities they need when they require it. You can also contact them when your records indicate they are likely to have to re-order.

7.1 Lead by example and care for your employees.

If you do not, you cannot expect them to care for your customers.

• Reward excellent customer service.

7.2 Let your employees see how their efforts can affect the final product or service you provide directly.

7.3 Train your employees in the right technical and personal skills. This need not take long.

• A common weak point is answering the telephone.

  Whoever usually answers the phone should be trained thoroughly, to a high level of professionalism.

  At the same time, everyone in the company should be taught how to handle calls and take basic enquiries.

7.4 When one person has made a mistake, whoever is talking to the customer must take responsibility by apologising.

• Make it an iron rule that employees never blame others in the company.

"Sorry, we have made a mistake" sounds a hundred times better than "It's not my fault, it's our sales people."

7.5 Encourage employee suggestions and give generous rewards for good ones.

7.6 Aim for realistic standards.