Customer service can make or break a small business online. I have been running my own online business selling handmade horn jewelry for almost three years now and this is something I have seen over and over again. Being part of many different forums for small business owners, on a daily basis I see questions about how someone should handle an annoyed customer, a bad order, delayed shipping issues, poor quality in the eyes of consumers, etc. Knowing how to address these issues is not easy and generally must be determined on a case-by-case basis. Below are some tips and lessons that I have learned over the past three years.
The customer is ALWAYS the customer.
I used to think that “the customer is always right”. Then in one of my college classes, I learned that the customer is NOT always right, but the customer is ALWAYS the customer. This is something to keep in mind when deciding how to approach a problem that you are facing with a dissatisfied customer. Even if you feel that the customer is not right about the problem, they are still your customer and without your customers you cannot have a successful business. If you mishandle a situation, you could lose that customer (and their friends) forever. If you handle it correctly, hopefully you will have a regular customer for life.
Losing money vs. Losing Customers
This is something that I have had a lot of experience with, but in a positive way. I’ve found that if anything you need to do to satisfy your customer will lose you a little money, 9 times out of 10, the loss is worth it. Now I am not saying that you should do this frequently, but if you are providing quality products then you should not face this problem frequently. EVERY TIME I’ve had a small loss ($ 20.00 or less) to make my customer happy or correct a mistake, they leave me great reviews, recommend their friends, and most of the time become a repeat customer. This is a sensitive topic for many small business owners. I suggest that you keep this in mind with each issue that may arise, assess whether you can afford a small loss to increase the chance of creating a repeat customer.
I know that to run a business, you have to do it in a way that makes you money. If you always suffer losses, your business will not be successful. Despite this, I have found that when I have problems with clients and show them that I care more about them than about money, they feel that they are important. Which is exactly how I want my clients to feel because I DO care about them. My approach to customer service will not work for all companies or for all people. I think it’s something that more companies should consider when deciding what type of customer service they want to be known for.