"Surprising Your Customers" Article by Tina Zawila

At Sothertons Gladstone we talk to business owners everyday about how to improve their businesses, everything from managing their cashflow, to improving customer service.  So maybe, as customers ourselves, we notice things that others might not notice.  Sometimes, these are nice surprises, other times, not-so-nice surprises.

In light of a recent experience, I wanted to remind business owners that they need to be upfront with their customers about the price of their products and services.  Now if you are in retail, that’s usually pretty obvious, the prices are generally marked pretty clearly on your products.  However, if you are a service business, it’s more difficult to display a price tag on a service offering, but no less important to your customers.

Before undertaking a project for your customer, make sure you have had a conversation around the investment they will make for this service.  It is extremely embarrassing, and financially difficult, if your customer can’t afford to pay when the service is complete.  Even if you are doing work for a regular customer, make sure you have discussed any changes in your service or pricing.  For example, arriving to pick up your car after it’s been serviced, to find out the price is over $1,300 when you were expecting it to be around $500 (like every other service before it) can cause everyone a lot of angst.

The most important rule of customer service, in my opinion, is communication.  Understanding what it is your customer needs/wants, and having an open conversation around the investment needed to achieve the outcomes required, is vital to a successful transaction and an ongoing positive customer relationship.

Similarly, asking your customer if they are happy with the outcome, and for feedback on your service, after the project has been delivered will also provide you with invaluable information on how to improve your service delivery and enhance your customer relationship.

 

For other tips on improving customer service in your business, contact the professional team at Sothertons Gladstone on 07 4972 1300.