I’m positive that with good customer service skills, small businesses can beat out the big players. Generally speaking, which is always dangerous, as small business owners we are normally closer to what’s happening on the shop floor than the owners or CEO’s of large companies. Hence, we should know how our employees are interacting with customers and act quickly to fill in gaps by training in good customer service skills. We should also be providing clear polices and procedures of how to deal with complaints, refunds and other queries. It’s my personal opinion that leading by example is the best way to teach. And here’s why it is so important to get it right:

“Even in a recession people want to be treated properly. If they have a bad experience they won’t go back. If they are younger customers they will probably be on Twitter telling everyone else about it,” says Robert McKernan of McKernan Training. “The research into why customers are lost is very interesting. Only 9 per cent of defections are actually due to price. By far the biggest reason (over 60 per cent) is the attitude of staff. Consumers do not like being treated with indifference or rudeness.”  [Read more…]