Did you know that 60% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company due to a poor customer service experience? Staggering? Perhaps. Surprising? No. Too often, companies underestimate the service pillar when it comes to marketing, and why? Because they are too focused on just creating content or just closing a sale. While we believe that these are important to the success of your business, they are secondary pillars when it comes to caring about your customers and building a community around your company.
Why is this the most important?
We are firm believers that service is the most important pillar to your overall marketing strategy for two reasons:
- Customers have higher expectations, more control, and more options when it comes to buying.
- Customers have the power to build you up or tear you down. With a single Tweet, post, or review, there is opportunity for hundreds, if not, thousands of people could know the good and the bad about your company.
Our top tips
So, now you know why this pillar is so important, what can you be doing for your customers when it comes to service? The answer is always MORE.
- Focus on relationships: Conversion demands conversation. People want a humanistic approach to marketing, they don’t want a generic email, a robotic response, an automated chatbot, or the answering machine when they are searching for answers to their problem. Put genuine time, thought, and energy into generating a conversation focused on the relationship.
- Emphasize THEM not YOU: If you are only concerned with making the sale, you won’t get far in your business—it’s simple. At the end of the day, you have to ask what you are doing for them. How are you delighting your customers throughout each stage of their buyer’s journey? Are you placing their happiness and satisfaction above the sale?
- Don’t focus your efforts on solely gaining new customers: If you’re only concerned with getting new customers, your loyal customers will begin to feel like your new customers are getting more attention than they are, causing friction. Remember, you should be delighting and engaging both new and old customers differently since they are at different points in their buyers’ journey.
- People are sharing more and more about themselves online—take advantage of it: Never has there been a more unique opportunity than really getting to know your target audience on a highly personal level. You have the ability to take the time and take a more personalized approach to how you appeal to your customers. Customers want to see both intent and effort put into your interactions with them; how are you showing this?
- If you have an angry customer always over-deliver: Remember, every customer you have has the power to build you up or tear you down. So instead of saying one disgruntled customer isn’t worth that much to you, you may want to rethink that statement. Word always gets around. One customer is DEFINITELY worth putting in the extra time and effort to making sure they are satisfied.
- Build something great rather than focusing on the money aspect: This one speaks to those who are just starting out in their business venture. You can’t expect to start with the money—you have to make something worth customer and influencer interest. The saying goes, “build it and they will come,” the same thing kinda goes for marketing. Create an optimal product or service that gets people talking, capitalize on that first. In fact, we believe you should be focusing on this and making your customers happy way before expecting any profits. Ultimately, this is how you will cultivate long-term success.
- Make it mobile friendly or you won’t last: Today, you won’t be able to function as a business unless you make sure all of your digital efforts are mobile friendly. Everything is making the shift to mobile and customers have come to expect it. Need we say more?
Service comes down to how well you are delighting your customers throughout each stage of their buyer’s journey. We’re not going to lie, this takes a lot of work—more than just making content, which is secondary, and way more than making the end sale. That’s not inbound. But this is why service is the most important, it’s where you will ultimately find the long-term success that will drive your company into the future.
Looking for more help understanding service with inbound and the stages of the flywheel as it fits into your marketing strategy? Start getting organized—download our free Creative Arcade Inbound Flywheel Worksheet.
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