Good Customer Service

Is good customer service a priority for you? It's important that you make your crafts unique, but it's not the only way you should make your business stand out from the crowd.

The quality of your customer service is just as important as the quality of your crafts. Here's why:

• Word of mouth spreads faster than you think - whether it's good or bad. So if you want people to refer their friends to you, rather than warn them off, make sure you're offering great customer service.
• Good customer service enhances your professional image - if you're friendly, efficient and dealing with your customers correctly, they'll be more likely to think of you as a 'real business' rather than just a hobby crafter. This means they're more likely to trust you with big or custom orders. And if you're interested in supplying other outlets, they'll need to see that you're professional too.
• You're constantly competing with dozens of other crafters and retailers for your customers' business, so you want them to think of you first when they need to buy something you sell. This is far more likely to happen if each of their experiences in buying from you was a pleasurable one.

Good customer service should always include the following:

• Be trustworthy - always make every effort to do what you promise.
• Treat your customers with respect.
• Make sure you have a plan for when things do go wrong.
• Be open to feedback and change.

Don't even consider going into business for yourself if you're not prepared to offer this basic level of customer service. But even if you're already providing this, you shouldn't stop there... don't forget you want to stand out!

Good customer service means offering something extra

Offering the best price to customers is one way of enticing them from the competition, but it's not the one I'd recommend. There are much better ways to gain loyal customers, without eating into your bottom line. Here are some suggestions:

• Quick turnaround - particularly during the Christmas season, customers will really appreciate getting their purchases as soon as possible. With a lot of party plan businesses taking 2-3 weeks to deliver, you can win your customers over this way. However it's important that you only offer this benefit if you are absolutely sure you can go through with it. Promising a quick turnaround and then letting customers down will really damage your reputation.
• Unique benefit - offer your customers an advantage to shopping with you that they wouldn't get elsewhere, e.g. free gift wrap, custom fitting, providing a special care/cleaning product to prolong the life of their item. Use your imagination!
• Loyalty bonus - it's easy to provide a reward scheme for returning customers and makes it more likely that they'll be back for more. Try printing a loyalty scheme on the back of your business cards, or slip a discount voucher in with each purchase.
• Offer a great guarantee - provide your customers with extra reassurance by offering an unconditional guarantee on your crafts. You can offer refunds or repairs or both, anything that will show your customers that you stand behind your products. Some crafters worry that they'll be taken advantage of, but in practice this rarely happens, especially in cases where you deal with customers face to face such as at craft shows and home parties.

Another way to make sure you're providing good customer service or to get new ideas for offering an outstanding service, is to ask your customers for feedback.

• When you deliver your craft orders to a hostess, ask her if there were any ways she felt you could have improved the party.
• With custom orders, it's a nice idea to call or email to find out whether they're happy with their item. Even if you get complaints and have to fix/change things, it's always preferable to leave your customers completely satisfied.
• Try handing out survey forms either during a party or enclosed with purchases/orders. These should be anonymous for honest feedback, and at least some of the questions should be about how you can provide good customer service.

Finally, once you've received your customers' input, it's important to listen to this feedback and act on it - your business should be constantly evolving and improving, or you won't stay ahead of the crowd for long.

Please click here to let me know of the unique ways you offer good customer service in your craft business!