“In Business” by Roland Millward

For a business to do well  it needs to build credibilty with its customers. This is something that once you have a customer is relatively easy to do. By offering good service and value, fulfilling your promises and so forth will be credibility.

However what can you do to build credibility with people who have not yet used your services?

This has to be done by the impression that you give about your business from the first point of contact. How the is the phone is answered? Is it answered quickly and with a friendly voice? Are emails replied to promptly and brochures posted quickly? Your business must be run in a friendly and efficient manner. The website should look great and give client the information they need along with brochures and other material, making sure it is of the highest quality.

Every contact with a customer must reflect what your business will do for that customer when they commit to an order. Once that order is placed then you can continue to build on your reputation and keep that customer for life!

One of the best sources of business has to be when you get referrals from your customers. Now often we wait until a customer recommends our service to someone and such recommendations are greatly appreciated. However that is leaving things to chance. Is there a way of increasing those recommendations?

The answer is ‘yes’.

You can ask your customers for referrals! How? Well simply put you could say, “so John which one of your work colleagues has been showing an interest in getting xxx..” You may well find that John has been talking about his future purchase and others too said they would like one. There is your referral.

For customers on your mailing list you could ask them to write down the names and address of 2 or 3 people that they feel would like to know about your product or service. You can then follow those people up with a letter saying that ‘John has said you would be interested in xxx and you are pleased to tell them that you can help’.

There are many ways you can get referrals so don’t delay and don’t leave it to chance. Build into your sales pitch and follow ups a referral system. Remember too that referrals are more likely to buy from you than people that respond to an advertisement.

To prosper in business you must provide good customer service. Not only will you benefit from your customers coming back to you but they will tell others about your business and provide you with more customers.

Invest time and resources in your business to make sure that you are providing the best service possible. Some of those resources can be put to good use to give your satisfied customers materials that they can use to pass on to their contacts. I have previously written about the value of business cards but here I want to add a few other things that you can do.

Create a newsletter that has real value to the reader. From experience I can say that newsletters not only keep you in touch with your customers but they will often use the newsletter as a talking point to recommend your services to others. If you are posting out a physical newsletter rather than an e-mail version make sure you enclose your business cards. You may also want to add a discount voucher or a special offer with something free attached that not only your customer can use but that can be passed onto others. Thank about options such as ‘free delivery’, 10% off, buy this and get this free gift. There are many options that you could try and be successful with.

Build your customer service and your business will be successful. As mentioned look carefully at your business and see where improvements can be made. You may need to spend time training staff to a higher standard or your own knowledge may need to be improved. Whatever it is, do it!