As of 2018, there were over 30 million small businesses registered in the United States alone. This means that, if you’re a business owner, saying you have a lot of competition would be a gross understatement. Thanks to the internet, you’re in competition with other businesses in your niche all over the world.
Because of all this competition, you have to go above and beyond to stand out among the crowd. And one of the best ways to do so is by providing excellent customer service.
By giving your customers the greatest experience possible, you’re more likely to retain current customers and gain new ones, no matter how crowded your niche is. How do you do that? Well, we have the answer for you right here!
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Read on to learn about 7 ways to wow your customer base with an outstanding customer experience every time.
1. Exude Positivity
Not every customer is going to be the most enjoyable to deal with, but it’s extremely important to maintain a positive attitude regardless of the situation. Even the most difficult customer should be met with kindness and understanding.
You never know, your positive attitude might be what turns them into your most loyal patron. Not to mention, using positive language is one of the best ways to avoid conflict in the first place.
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If you have to put a customer on hold while you’re speaking to them, be sure that you have a hold message or music that’s actually enjoyable to listen to. If you’re unsure about the type of hold message you should choose, you can learn more over on Amazing Voice.
2. Use First Names
When you first come into contact with a customer, ask them their full name. Then, unless they express a different preference, always address them by their first name.
This will help to promote a sense of familiarity with your business and makes the customer feel that you’re connected.
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That said, you should only use their first name if you’ve asked for it first or you’ve been in contact with this person before. If you’re cold calling or have yet to ask their name, it can be off-putting to the customer to hear someone refer to them by their first name.
3. Keep It Personal
Continuing with the idea of personalizing interactions with your customers, you should do your best to make your customers feel that you care about them as a person.
For convenience’s sake, it’s easy to begin referring to customers by their order or inquiry number but you should never do this. Instead, make your newsletters, emails, phone conversations, and voicemails, light and conversational.
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Speak to them in a professional but friendly manner, and never make them feel like a number. Yes, using numbers to refer to customers is a typical business practice, but remember, the goal is to be above the norm.
4. The Customer is Always Right
Let’s say you have an online business where you sell artisanal body soap. You get an email from an irate customer, complaining that they received lavender when they ordered vanilla. You check their order form and see clearly that they indeed ordered lavender.
Are they technically wrong in this situation? Yes. But should you treat them as if they’re wrong? No. The customer is always right.
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Instead of meeting their anger with anger, maintain that kind, positive attitude. You can politely point out that they ordered the wrong product, but then apologize for the mistake and offer to exchange their order.
5. Stay Active on Social Media
The internet has changed the landscape of business completely, and one of those changes is the advent (and subsequent rise in popularity) of social media. Social media isn’t just a handy tool, it can be what launches your business.
That said, it can also be overwhelming, as there are several different platforms to choose from. Our advice? Choose one or two platforms and stick to them.
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In these platforms, be as active as possible. This will not only improve your customers’ familiarity with your brand but will help you to be more available to receive their thoughts and concerns.
6. Offer Guarantees
If you don’t stand behind your product, how can anyone else? Providing your customers with a money-back guarantee will make them feel more confident investing in your products and build trust between your customers and your brand.
Now, many businesses offer some sort of refund policy, this isn’t new. To stand out, you need to make yours lenient and straightforward. This means leaving out any complicated legal jargon and outlining your terms in an easy to understand bullet point list.
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A 30-day guarantee is pretty standard; to take it to the next level, consider offering a 60 or 90-day guarantee. You could also make your guarantee no questions asked, meaning your customers aren’t required to offer an explanation or jump through any hoops to return their purchase.
7. Take Feedback Seriously
Speaking of customers’ thoughts and concerns, you should always take their feedback seriously. You’re going to get both positive and negative comments. And though the negative ones are sometimes difficult to take, taking them into consideration and making changes accordingly can make all the difference for your brand.
Try to acknowledge every comment, especially at the beginning. This will make your customers feel heard and valued by you and your brand. The 4 Key Elements of Successful Branding
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Provide Top-Notch Customer Service With These Tips
As a business owner, you know that you couldn’t operate without your customers, which is why providing the best customer service you can is imperative. Treat your customers with the utmost respect, stay in contact with them, and express genuine concern for their thoughts and feelings.
With top-notch customer service, every customer who comes across your company will walk away having had a positive experience.
Looking for more ways to take your business to the next level? Be sure to check out our blog!
Manvendra Chaudhary, with over 5 years of professional experience as CEO of Unique News and Megalent Marketing, shares insights on life, business, and health for your success.
The founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company Shantanu Deshpande took to LinkedIn and shared a picture from the topper’s newspaper advertisement.
In the caption, he wrote
“It was shocking to see the amount of hate targeted at a teenage girl who had topped an exam because of her facial hair. Our simple message to this amazing young woman with such a bright future. Love to see my team ooze class. No opportunistic sales, QR codes, nothing. Just a heartfelt message to a fellow Bae.”
The caption further reads,
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“Dear Prachi, they’re trolling your hair today, they’ll applaud your AIR tomorrow.”
It was the advertisement’s closing statement that fueled controversy and drew backlash from the public.
It stated,
“We hope you never get bullied into using our razor.”
Netizens’ Reactions
The post went viral within hours of its posting. Many netizens called it “disgusting” and “absurd.”
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One user wrote,
“This is a collective failure of your team. Hope they read each and every comment and reflect. Did no one in the team notice this problem? How disconnected are they from reality? This will leave a deeper scar on the girl than anything else, and I will always remember your brand for being an opportunist.”
While another commented, “Insensitive.”
“This is terrible, a huge mistake you made. This is bullying this woman on another, bigger level,”
wrote another.
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“Classless and in poor taste… You don’t deserve more attention than this,”
one commented.
What the CEO Has to Say?
Shantanu Deshpande described his caption as a small token of support for Prachi, and thus defended the ad.
His efforts to clear the air were in vain, as many netizens still found the company’s response via the ad lacking sensitivity.
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Bombay Shaving Company’s intention was to extend support for the topper. However, it ultimately led to more criticism and enhanced controversy.
Recently, the class 10th and 12th results were published by the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad. Prachi Nigam scored 591/600 marks and topped Class 10. She revealed that her aim is to crack the IIT-JEE and become an engineer.
Gerber and Perrigo Face New Lawsuit Over ‘Store-Brand’ Infant Formula Pricing; All Pending Toxic Baby Food Cases Consolidated into New Class Action MDL
Infant formula makers Gerber and Perrigo have been hit with a class-action lawsuit, which accuses the companies of artificially creating a shortage and jacking up prices for “store-brand” formula sold at Walmart, Walgreens, and other retailers.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. It accuses Perrigo of violating antitrust laws by collaborating with Gerber to prevent competitors from entering the market for store-brand formula.
Perrigo, one of the nation’s largest suppliers of store-brand formula, sells its products under retail labels at prices lower than similar branded products. However, the lawsuit alleges that Gerber, by granting Perrigo the first right of refusal to Gerber’s excess formula supply, which could have been sold to other competitors, is engaging in practices that stifle competition.
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The lawsuit claims that through this arrangement, Gerber agreed to keep its excess formula out of the store-brand market, thereby gaining a share of Perrigo’s profits. The lawsuit was filed by four residents of California, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, who will represent millions of customers who have purchased store-brand baby formula. The lawsuit does not name formula retailers as defendants. It asks the court to intervene and end the anticompetitive deals between Perrigo and Gerber and seeks more than $5 million in monetary damages.
This lawsuit is similar to another case filed in Brooklyn federal court by a potential store-brand competitor, P&L Development. Gerber and Perrigo requested the dismissal of that case, which was denied by the judge in February. The companies involved in the lawsuit claimed they compete fairly with other infant formula manufacturers, including those of store-brand formulas. The lawsuit also cited the squeezing out of P&L Development from the store-brand market, which has led to higher prices.
Gerber is also facing numerous lawsuits accusing its brands of baby food of containing dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals, such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. These heavy metals are extremely toxic, even for adults, and can have catastrophic consequences on developing children, leading to health complications and neurological damage. Conditions such as ADHD and autism may be linked to consuming these toxic baby foods.
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On April 11, 2024, all the lawsuits pertaining to toxic baby foods, which had been filed at different times in various courts, were consolidated into a new class action MDL in the Northern District of California and assigned to Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. Besides Gerber, other baby food manufacturers like Beech-Nut and Campbell Soup Co. have also been named as defendants.
The legal wrangling between the crypto sector and the SEC, or the Securities and Exchange Commission, is getting uglier, with ConsenSys, a major protagonist of the Ethereum Blockchain, filing a lawsuit against the regulatory body in a Texas federal court. This legal action seeks an intervention to ward off a looming SEC lawsuit against the company regarding features of its popular MetaMask wallet. The lawsuit also seeks the court’s help in deciding once and for all the vexed question of whether Ethereum’s digital token, Ether, is not a security. The legal uncertainty hangs heavily on the crypto sector and puts a question mark on its very existence.
In an exhaustive 34-page legal filing, ConsenSys states that the SEC’s endeavor to exert control over Ethereum is both illegal and a threat to blockchain technology.
The complaint states,
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“The SEC’s unlawful seizure of authority over ETH would spell disaster for the Ethereum network, and for ConsenSys. Every holder of ETH, including ConsenSys, would fear violating the securities laws if he or she were to transfer ETH on the network. This would bring the use of the Ethereum blockchain in the United States to a halt, crippling one of the internet’s greatest innovations.”
The lawsuit also alleges that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has embarked on an aggressive enforcement policy directed at the big players in the crypto sector like Coinbase and Uniswap. The lawsuit particularly points out a campaign that involved a deluge of subpoenas asking firms and developers for documents related to their dealings with the nonprofit Ethereum Foundation, which supports the blockchain’s development.
The crypto sector is up in arms against Gensler’s tactics and has contended that the SEC has never provided clear rules meant for the distinct features of blockchain technology. However, Gensler negates this argument, saying that the existing securities laws are clear and sufficient, and that the crypto industry refuses to comply with them.
Gensler’s actions are full of contradictions since, in the past, the SEC had maintained that blockchain’s tokens, like Bitcoin, are not securities and hence beyond its purview. A senior official in 2018 had stated that Ethereum has reached a state where it is adequately decentralized, and further, the agency also gave the green signal for the launch of Ethereum futures trading—an implicit acknowledgement that Ether is a commodity. However, at present, Gensler is using a recent feature of Ethereum, known as staking, as grounds for the recent legal campaign.
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The lawsuit was filed after the SEC issued a Wells Notice, which is akin to a formal letter warning that the agency intends to sue a firm and could lead to a settlement later. The SEC charged ConsenSys that MetaMask was operating as an unlicensed broker-dealer. MetaMask offered users a means to stake Ethereum on their behalf. Staking was a feature introduced in September 2022 on the Blockchain as a replacement for the energy-intensive mining process. The process involves a system of validators who pledge collateral to become trusted validators.
The SEC objects to the process of staking, which has changed Ethereum from a commodity into a security. ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin has called this account of the SEC “preposterous”.
Lubin said,
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“The act of staking is really just posting a security bond so you can get paid to contribute labor and resources to help operate the Ethereum protocol. Now they’re trying to turn that into some sort of investment contract.”
Lubin also stated that the SEC’s actions will lead to a halt in the growth of the crypto sector and blockchain technology as a whole. Lubin feels that the SEC seeks to block pending applications by companies to launch spot ETFs for Ethereum, following the huge popularity of Bitcoin ETFs. The SEC is in fact trying to regulate a technology on its merits and it will only stifle innovation.
