As the clock ticked down, many revelers brought in the New Year with customary resolutions, and there’s nothing preventing businesses from forming the same goals to pursue in a fresh year.
The important part to making and keeping resolutions is to set attainable objectives. Given this, one easy commitment to follow through with during the new year is improving something you’ve already built up: your customer service.
Customer service is integral to business success, and making resolutions to find new customers, deepen existing ties and maybe even obtain working capital to expand and hire customer service reps will help businesses pave the way for greater success in the new year.
Entrusting yourself to customers
In an economy and world increasingly leaning toward consumer empowerment, one differentiation businesses can adopt is customer-centricity. As the name holds, the strategy means putting the customer at the center of decision-making, and excellent service helps drive this action.
When it comes to new customers, you need to play up your position as a leader in putting the customer first. In relationships with existing clientele, that promise needs to be reinforced through meaningful interactions. When customers start to experience the heightened level of service dedication, the business and its brand are more associated with excellence and more attractive to new and existing customers.
Expanding to prioritize customer service
When a business grows, or plans to, it often needs business financing to facilitate expansion. While some might invest in equipment or more space, in customer service, it’s a good idea to invest in talent. Securing working capital to hire new employees focused on strengthening and improving customer service is a beneficial resolution to make. As a business owner, while you may have a direct hand in many customer relationships, day-to-day interactions may ask too much of your schedule and the many hats you wear as owner. This is where hired help comes in to devote attention and skill to customer-centricity.
Using customer relationship software
Data is ever more important in guiding customer service in the modern age. While some small businesses may be hesitant, or wary, of brand new software, the growingly popular field of customer relationship management software carries benefits for companies. First of all, they centralize customer relationships into easily navigable platforms, and collect important data for predicting and meeting customer needs.
The investment in CRM also carries a financial benefit in that office software is covered under the Section 179 deduction held in the IRS’ tax code; meaning, small business owners can deduct the cost of their CRM investment or IT equipment on tax returns, while fully benefiting from improved service capabilities.
