Everything you do from putting paint on the wall, to your signage, radio, TV, Print, advertising, is to drive loyal business. Wouldn’t it be nice if your advertising would keep on advertising?
Joel hit the ground running and Started OHS in 1998. He was the sales team, wrote the advertising copy, organized the voices and even did some VO work. He had great fun and knew every customer personally, and all about their business.
He used to ask every business customer “What sets you apart from your competitors?” The answer was the same – “We give better customer service”.
He had to ask; “Better customer service than whom, better than last year or better than last month? What have you done to improve your level of customer service over the last year?”
He helped many On-Hold Systems Customers to address this over the last 25 years.
Its a fact Google and Facebook ads have very little impact upon sales due to the increasingly saturated market. So what gives and where should the focus be in gaining more loyal customers?
What will continue to grow is the public ratings of businesses by their users. Trip Advisor is a good example. Travelers use the platform to rate accommodation, destinations, restaurants, etc. The business needs to incentivize the reviewer to take the action as social proof is vital for brand reputation, but the review must be real as the public is too perceptive to be fooled by plastic reviews.
So how do you incentivize the public- and even harder, the B2B customer to take the time to write a review?
In my experience, a room upgrade works or a free gift helps to gain valuable reviews by satisfied customers. Asking for a review even ups their perception of your company even if they do not fill out the review.
Another way to encourage positive reviews is to provide an experience that the customer does not expect, but is delighted by.
This is what we call the Customer Experience. It would be taking into account and valuing the customer’s thoughts and feelings. This can reduce the wait times at all customer touchpoints. It would be providing exemplary customer service through every channel.
At On-Hold Systems we are believers that the customer experience makes the sale or looses the sale. Waiting on hold is what we set out to minimize, and we have seen recently that our customers stay on line up to 135% longer. They are educated on new products and services and they buy up to 35% more.
Giving the Customer a better experience will be memorable and will bring in more positive reviews. But don’t be afraid to ask, just like referrals. Ask and ye shall receive.
Have to ask the question! Will your customer service keep on advertising!