Providing good customer service: Practical tips for small businesses
Customer service can be a key differentiator for small businesses. Learn practical tips to deliver great customer service and turn every interaction into an opportunity for growth. Presented by Chase for Business.
Quick insights
- Good customer service means being accessible, responsive and consistent at every touchpoint, which may help small businesses build trust and stand out from the competition.
- Empowering your team (including contractors) with clear service standards and training can help ensure every customer interaction reflects your brand.
- Handling complaints promptly and professionally, gathering feedback regularly and showing customer appreciation are some ways to turn everyday interactions into long-term loyalty.
Delivering quality customer service can be one way for your small business to stand out and achieve sustainable growth. However, when you are covering multiple roles, managing a rotating staff or relying on independent contractors, delivering a consistent experience might be challenging.
Customer encounters may impact your bottom line and community reputation. This article explores how to respond to your customers, foster a culture of service and handle complaints effectively—no matter the size or structure of your team.
What is customer service?
Customer service is the support, guidance and assistance you offer before, during and after a customer buys your product or service. It includes responding to inquiries, resolving problems, providing information and ensuring customers have a positive experience.
After starting your small business, customer service might mean direct interaction at a storefront, managing an influx of e-commerce emails or coordinating client communications through freelancers. While service standards differ among industries, the key objective remains the same: making each customer feel appreciated and supported.
Why customer service is important for small businesses
Good customer service goes beyond troubleshooting—it's about offering a welcoming, respectful and helpful experience at every touchpoint. Customer service can also play an important role in your business’s success and financial health.
For small businesses, creating positive customer service interactions may help you:
- Build loyalty and encourage return visits, which may help stabilize cash flow
- Attract positive word-of-mouth referrals, potentially reducing your marketing costs
- Stand out from the competition in a crowded market
- Address issues before they potentially escalate into public negative reviews
13 strategies to provide good customer service
Putting effective customer service practices in place may help your business attract and retain customers. Here are some strategies for enhancing your customer service interactions:
1. Knowing your customers' preferences and pain points
Understanding who your customers are—their preferences, pain points and buying behaviors—is one foundational principle of customer service. When you truly know your customer, you may be better able to anticipate their needs and tailor your communication style.
2. Being accessible with multiple communication channels
Customers likely don’t want to jump through hoops to get in touch with you. Offering multiple channels for communication—such as phone, email, live chat and social media—provides avenues for your customers to reach you that suit their individual communication preferences.
3. Responding quickly to show customers you value their time
In today's fast-paced world, speed is often an important component of customer satisfaction. Striving to answer inquiries fast may show customers you value their time. If you lack the staff to reply immediately, you may be able to utilize technology to aid your response times.
For example, you can set up an automated email response that says, "We've received your message and will get back to you within 24 hours." This lets your customers know their correspondence has been received and provides a timeframe for response that may provide you with a buffer.
4. Personalizing the experience to build rapport and loyalty
Personalizing the customer experience could mean addressing customers by name and adapting your support to their specific history. This can help build strong rapport and foster brand loyalty because the customer may feel genuinely seen by your business.
5. Following up after resolving an issue
Great customer service often extends beyond the moment a problem is technically solved. Reaching out after resolving an issue to confirm customer satisfaction may show that you care about the long-term relationship. It also gives you a chance to catch lingering issues before they turn into negative online reviews, which could lower your average review scores.
6. Training your team (and your contractors) on service standards
Providing excellent service often starts from within. Regular training may help ensure that anyone representing your brand is aware of your service standards. For traditional staff, host brief workshops to role-play difficult customer scenarios. If you rely on freelancers or contractors, it can be helpful to provide them with a simple "brand standards" one-pager so they can better understand how to communicate with your clients.
7. Empowering employees to resolve common problems independently
Authorizing employees to handle common problems without escalation could help resolve smaller issues before they turn into bigger ones. For example, you could give your representatives the pre-approved authority to issue refunds, waive late fees or offer account credits up to a certain dollar amount. This may help speed up resolution times and boost staff confidence.
8. Gathering customer feedback to identify blind spots
It can be difficult to improve what you don't measure. Actively asking customers for their input may help you identify blind spots in your customer journey. Feedback can be gathered from direct conversations with your customers or automated to include surveys and questionnaires that trigger after a purchase has been completed.
Public forums may also be a place to gather feedback about your customer service efforts. Online platforms that allow guests to leave public comments about your business can be another place to review and gather feedback about your business.
9. Setting clear expectations to reduce complaints
Customer complaints can stem from a mismatch between what they expected and what actually happened. Being upfront about your policies, shipping timelines and capabilities may help eliminate some confusion.
10. Thank your customers to build brand loyalty
A little gratitude can go a long way. Showing appreciation may leave a lasting positive impression on your customers and encourage repeat purchases. Small gestures—like a handwritten thank-you note in a shipped package or a special discount code on a client's anniversary—may help remind customers that real people are behind your brand.
11. Improving customer service through ongoing reviews
Consider making customer service improvements an ongoing effort. Reviewing customer comments, observing staff or contractor interactions and tracking your response times are all ways to help improve your customer service efforts.
For example, you can aim to answer all emails within one business day or resolve complaints within 48 hours. Additionally, simple actions like updating communication templates or creating an FAQ page may help streamline service and save you valuable time.
For growing businesses, a customer relationship management (CRM) system may help your business stay on top of customer demands, communication and insights. A CRM organizes customer information, including names, phone numbers and emails, as well as notes about previous conversations or engagements and makes it available to anyone with access to the platform.
12. Setting and maintaining customer service standards across your team
Setting clear customer service standards may help achieve consistent delivery across your business. You may want to start by defining what excellent service means for your brand, covering topics like greeting customers, managing returns or addressing complaints.
Documenting these expectations in your employee materials, training guides or contractor agreements can help to get your team on the same page or provide a roadmap when you bring new team members on board.
13. Handling customer complaints professionally
Properly handling complaints is often an important aspect of customer service. By resolving issues promptly, you may be able to turn unhappy customers into loyal supporters.
Here are some ways to consider addressing complaints effectively:
- Staying calm and listening: Allow customers to express their concerns without cutting them off.
- Acknowledging the issue: Show empathy and let customers know you understand their frustration.
- Apologizing sincerely: A heartfelt apology can often defuse difficult situations.
- Providing solutions: Offer ways to resolve the problem and involve the customer in deciding the outcome.
- Following up: After resolving the complaint, check back to see if the customer is satisfied.
Frequently asked questions
What are some effective customer service strategies?
Useful strategies include defining service standards, empowering staff to handle problems and following up with customers after each interaction.
How can I provide fast customer service when I'm the only person running the business?
Using automation tools like auto-reply emails to acknowledge inquiries immediately and setting clear expectations for when you plan to personally respond can help speed up customer service. Additionally, creating a comprehensive FAQ page on your website can help customers resolve common issues on their own without needing to contact you.
How can I ensure independent contractors deliver the same level of customer service that I do?
Consider creating a simple brand standards document that outlines your communication expectations and share it with all freelancers before they interact with your clients. It can also be helpful to set clear expectations with your clients upfront about exactly who they will be working with on a day-to-day basis.
What is one way to handle a public negative review?
Respond promptly and professionally by acknowledging their frustration, apologizing sincerely and offering to take the conversation offline to find a solution. This may show both the unhappy customer and future prospects reading the review that you are committed to making things right.
