This has certainly been a challenging year for everyone; especially business owners. With things looking a little different for our brick and mortar friends, I would encourage owners and managers to take this time and reflect on your brand and what you want customers to take away from their experience.
My marketing & customer service background played a part in creating our Business Etiquette curriculum. We've all have experienced poor customer service or that over the top service that encouraged us to go back for more; let's hope we have more of the later with our own customers.
Here are just few thoughts as you look to reopen our doors to customers.
1. Have you ever been your own customer? If your answer is no, I would recommend you do this as soon as you are able. Hire a Secret Shopper, ask a friend or someone your staff would not recognize, to stop in for a visit or place phone call. You'd be surprised what you will learn.
2. Do your employees represent your brand? Remember, they are the voice and the face of your brand whenever a customer walks through the door.
3. Are you educating your employees on how to be the best they can be? Excellent customer service is delivered when you and/or your employees provide a positive and authentic experience ANY time they are in contact with you or your business.
4. Have you set guidelines when it comes to social media? Let's face it, we live in a technology driven world and social media can make or break your reputation with one wrong negative post. In the 80's, large marketing firms taught us that a person who had a bad experience would tell 10 people...well, those days are certainly gone.
Sometimes life gets busy and we don't take time to stop and take a hard look at our business. I would encourage you to use this downtime to evaluate and be honest about the level of customer service you and your employees are delivering to your customers. And remember, it takes approximately seven seconds for someone to form a first impression....what would that seven seconds look like for your business?
If you have questions or feel like it's time to introduce your employees to our Business Etiquette program, please feel free to reach out to me. Our Business Etiquette Program is customized to fit the need to every business owners unique needs.
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