Customer service departments often find themselves at odds with the rest of the company. There is often a not-so-friendly rivalry between the customer service department and the sales department. They see the other as working at cross-purposes.
Sales people overcome objections in what can sometimes feel like an adversarial process to acquire the customer. Customer service representatives deal with objections very differently in an attempt to appease the customer, even to the point of making it easy for the customer to return the product or quit the service.
But both departments are beholden to brand image. It is hard to sell against a poor brand value. On the service side, customer loyalty is harder to keep once they perceive a decline in the brand value. What is needed are solutions that improve both brand value and customer service at the same time. Here are a few:
Useful Labels
Increasing brand value means increasing visibility. One of the easiest ways to increase your visibility is to plaster your logo on everything. For that, you are going to need a label printer. The latest technology in this field is the Thermal Label Printer, which prints in real-time and eliminates the need for pre-printed materials. Whether you need it on the production room floor, or the front office. The right printer makes all the difference.
Of course, the printer is only half the battle for easy visibility. What you print can make the difference in reducing buyer’s remorse, and increasing customer satisfaction. The number of unhelpful labels one encounters in a retail environment is shocking.
There are expensive electronics that don’t make it clear on the box which version of the product you are looking at. Clothes have mislabeled sizes. Food products lack important information for people with allergies. All of these things lead to customer confusion, purchasing mistakes, unhappy returns, and customer service nightmare. All could be avoided with the simple expediency of useful labels.
Website with Product Pages
In some ways, websites act as labels, providing more visibility for the brand. The difference is that people go looking for websites in addition to stumbling upon them through links. A well-produced website can be an invaluable brand ambassador.
It is a place on the web where people can get excited about your brand, get to know about your product and service offerings, and begin the process of picturing those products and services as a part of their lives. One of the reasons a website is so important to your business is credibility. One subject matter expert put it this way:
- By building a website you are giving your business the opportunity to tell consumers why they should trust you and the testimonials and facts to back up those opportunities. Believe it or not, most people will search the internet for a product or service before the purchase to check the credibility first.
Just having the website improves brand value through credibility. Informative product pages:
- Answer questions
Set up reasonable expectations
Provide a sense of connection to the company
All of these things ultimately ease the burden placed on customer service by positively disposing the customer toward the company and product, and answering their questions before they can become issues.
Thoughtful Follow-up
You’ve got three opportunities to make a brand impression: before the sale, during the sale, and after the sale. Some businesses are so happy to have made a sale, they forget to follow up and make a customer for life.
In addition to the actionable steps you should take to extend your business identity, you should not forget equally actionable steps to become indispensable to the customer in front of you.
The most basic, and yet most powerful thing you can do is send them a note thanking them for their business. Give them a coupon or other incentives to bring them back. And ask if they have questions about the product or service. Give them your contact information. And point them to online resources that will help them with the basics. In other words, give them the royal treatment.
Start with useful labels, a good website, and thoughtful follow-up. From there your brand value and customer satisfaction ratings have nowhere to go but up.
Identity Magazine is all about empowering women to get all A’s in the game of life — Accept. Appreciate. Achieve.TM Every contributor and expert answer the Identity 5 questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the above article. As a team, we hope to inspire and motivate ourselves and inspire you to get all A’s.
1. What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? What are you still working on accepting?
That we have to all appreciate the little things and to not take anything for granted.
2. What have you learn to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? What are you still working on to appreciate?
I’m blessed to have loving family and friends in my life.
3. What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? What makes YOU most proud? What goals and dreams do you still have?
Graduating from Arizona State University in 2013
4. We all have imperfections, so we think. The truth–we are all perfectly imperfect. What are your not-so-perfect ways? What imperfections and quirks create who you are–your Identity?
Nobody’s perfect and it’s been hard to accept it. I’ve learned to embrace my curly hair, my curves and my quirky personality.
5. “I Love My…” is an outlet for you to express and appreciate all the positive traits that make you…well… YOU! Sharing what you love about yourself will make you smile, feel empowered, and uplift your spirit and soul. (we assure you!) Identity challenges you to complete the phrase “I Love My…?”
I love my unwavering intensity. Everything I do is 100 percent.
