Keeping Up With Change

Traditional businesses are being restructured at an alarming rate.  It’s not just one industry or sector that is affected either. Healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and professional trades are just a few of the industries where ‘out with the old and in with the new’ is happening throughout the country.

So what is causing this upheaval with traditional businesses?  Maybe it’s technology, increased competition, Economics?  While each may be a minor contributing factor, the main reason is successful businesses are finding ways to create a customer experience far superior to that of their competitors.  Whether it is dealing with the Doctor’s office, securing a contractor to work on your house, or getting funding for your business through the bank, there are organisations in each of these categories that just seem to make the experience so much easier and more rewarding compared to their competitors.

A key strategy for today’s service businesses is to do something different from what most of their competitors are already doing. Something that, with a little effort, makes it a lot easier for prospects and clients to do business with them.

The challenge is how this can be achieved.  If you run a service business, chances are you spend a large majority of your time managing and performing those services. A 24/7 Approach to Customer Service – could this be the answer?A quality 24/7 answering service can be a big help.  You more than likely already have a website, perhaps a referral network and a few other ways to help clients find you.  But when a client actually takes the time to call you, does your company always answer with a live, friendly and helpful person?

You need to appear to always be there, even when you’re not! When a potential new client calls, they have probably already researched your company on the internet or they may have been possibly referred to you by a friend.  When a client calls, they may be contacting you because the nature of the call is likely to be more important than what can be addressed in an e-mail or web-form submission.  By having a live person, any time of the day or night, help manage the callers’ expectations, you are now ‘much easier to do business with’ than many of your competitors.  In most cases, the return on investment in a quality service is very high in regards to securing new clients as well as keeping existing clients happy over the long term.

Having an answering service is good strategy. There are obviously multiple ways to develop your customer experience above and beyond that of your competitors.  The interesting thing is that many of them will get so wrapped up in the technology end that they often overlook the opportunity to integrate the powerful touch of live human interaction as part of their strategy.  If you have not seriously considered partnering with a 24/7 answering service that can customise a program specifically to the needs of your business, now may be the time to do so.