Customer Service Excellence for Team Members

 

 

 

Excellent customer service is an essential aspect of your most valuable asset: your customers.

Customer service is so vital that it can be a powerful competitive advantage. 70% of Americans have spent more money on better service, according to Forbes. 

Excellent customer service is not solely for the customer service representatives. Instead, everyone on the team should practice exceptional customer service because every job ultimately affects the customer. 

Below is a list of concrete ways your team members can exceed your customer’s expectations. 

Customer Service Excellence: Hire Smart

Certain personalities and strengths are better suited for customer service jobs. Hiring the right people will set the company and employees up for success. 

When hiring, look for people who excel in the following traits. 

• Problem-solving. Give the interviewee a scenario and ask how they would proceed.
• Communication. Ask the interviewee to explain a complex topic.
• Listening. Tell the interviewee a little bit about yourself and the company. Check to see how much they retained.
• Time management. Ask them about a time in their life when they were very busy and how they got through it.
• Empathetic. Ask the interviewee about a time they saw someone hurting and how they reacted.
• Attentive. Gauge how attentive they are at the interview.
• Patient. Ask them to wait a little bit before or during the interview.
• Curious. Ask them if they have any questions for you about the company. Gauge their natural curiosity.

Hiring the right people gets you off on the right foot. After hiring customer service-oriented people, training will further define their natural skills. 

Customer Service Excellence: Training

Training creates more knowledgeable and skilled team members. 

The more trained and knowledgeable your team members are, the happier your customers will be. Happier customers are more likely to create word-of-mouth advertising, which is the most effective form of advertising: 5 times more powerful than paid ads. 

Training and development can take on various forms. 

• Hire a trainer. Find a professional who excels in teaching customer service skills. Pay them to come to talk to your team members.
• Do it yourself. Research ways your company can improve customer service. Ask your customers what they’d like to see. Share your findings with your team members at a meeting.
• Online courses. Direct, or if it’s in the budget, subsidize your employees to take online courses to help them improve their customer service.
• Mentor-mentee programs. Pair a more experienced staff member with a less experienced one. Have them get together to share information and tactics that have helped them.

Whichever route you choose, you’ll see the benefits pay off in higher customer satisfaction and improved customer relationships.  

Customer Service Excellence: Customer Relationships

Encourage employees to develop positive customer relationships. 

Keep it natural. Try asking customers questions about themselves. Some just want to get in and out. But others enjoy talking and will appreciate the opportunity. If you remember the customers’ names and the stories they tell, they’ll be happier and more loyal. 

Further, increase customer relationships by sending customers birthday gifts or cards. Companies that prioritize emotional connections with customers do better in the long run, outperforming their competitors in sales by 85%. 

Customer Service Excellence: Let Customers Help Themselves

71% of consumers reported wanting to solve customer service issues independently. 

Counterintuitively, some of the best customer services you can provide are the gifts of not needing customer service. By providing efficient, straightforward methods for customers to solve their own issues, the customers leave happy. 

There are a couple of ways to accomplish this. 

• Q&A page with answers to the most commonly asked questions.
• Information. By providing relevant information in a convenient place, such as a brochure, you can proactively prevent frustrated customers by providing all the information they need beforehand. 

Customer service is one way your business can stand above the rest. If you do it well, profits will increase. 

We know customer service can be tricky because of the wide range of inquiries and emotions. However, we’re here to help you with our excellent printing services. For example, we've got you if you need promotional products for a birthday gift, birthday cards, or informative brochures!

How to Keep Up With Direct Mail Trends

  

As we march through 2022, many businesses are left wondering if direct mail marketing is still a trend, if it is worth it, and if their business is missing out by not implementing this form of marketing.

Despite the many new marketing avenues available, direct marketing remains a multi-million-dollar industry, with companies spending $38.5 million of total advertising revenue in the United States on direct mail campaigns. 

With an average response rate of 4.9 percent, direct marketing is still alive and is a beneficial marketing tool all businesses should take advantage of.

Continue reading to learn more ways to help you and your business keep up to date with current direct mail trends: 

Watch What Is Coming in the Mail

One way to see what other businesses are doing is to keep an eye on what is coming through your mailbox.

Whether a letter, postcard, magazine, etc., there is much to learn about increasing brand awareness by watching and taking note of which advertisers are trying to get your attention. 

Ask Your Customers

Take time to learn from your customers and what drives them to different businesses.

What types of ads caught their attention? How do they hear about most local companies? What direct mail marketing items, such as ads, coupons, specials, and more, are likely to get them into a store or to hire a local business?

Check With Other Business Owners

Ask other business owners with similar products or services what works for them and which direct mail campaign strategies have proven to drive results.

Most business owners are willing to share their plans, while others might be tougher when sharing information with a competitor. Access to knowledge other business owners possess is vital in developing long-lasting positive relationships with other business owners, so you can share ideas and work together to learn more about direct mail marketing. 

Direct mail marketing campaigns are on the rise as more businesses start implementing various tools to help directly reach consumers. Everything from postcards to catalogs and coupons to letters can target consumers drawing attention to your brand.

Understanding the latest direct mail marketing trends can help keep your business on top of the latest advertising strategies, helping you stay competitive in your target market. 

Word-of-Mouth Marketing: What is it, and How Does it Benefit Your Business?

 

Since the introduction of social media, word-of-mouth marketing has dramatically increased.

Before the internet, someone would tell a friend or two if they had a good experience. Today, if they have a good experience, they tell thousands with a short post.

Word-of-mouth marketing allows your business’s brand to potentially get noticed by thousands of consumers, which, if done correctly, can spread like wildfire.

Understanding how word-of-mouth marketing works and how it can benefit your business helps increase your chances of attracting new customers.  

Why Word-of-Mouth Marketing Is Important

According to the American Marketing Associated and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, 64 percent of marketing executives believe that word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective form of advertising.

However, only about 6 percent claim to have mastered this marketing technique.

With a majority believing in word-of-mouth marketing and so few learning the skill, understanding this marketing tool can put your business in front of the competition and keep your products and services in the minds of consumers.

Even if a person does not need a product or service, they may be more inclined to tell friends and families about what they know about your business through word-of-mouth marketing. 

Using the Three Es of Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Three tactics can help you increase your word-of-mouth marketing reach, often referred to as the “Three Es.”

1. Engage

The first E is “Engage,” which means you engage with your followers and customers by setting up a presence in their lives.

Some ways to engage include sending birthday cards, offering special discounts and gifts, and consistently responding to social media posts, comments, and messages related to your business. 

2. Equip

The second E is “Equip,” which means giving your customers something to talk about, such as a fantastic product, high-quality customer service, and fun facts about your business.

When consumers like a company and have things to talk about and share with others, it encourages them to let everyone know about their favorite products and services, which could be yours. 

3. Empower

The final E is “Empower,” giving consumers different ways to talk and share their experiences and recommendations.

The more methods you offer for consumers to share your business, the greater the chance they will. Additionally, empower consumers to feel like they are a part of the process, such as asking questions, running contests, etc. 

Word-of-mouth marketing has been around since the first caveman started trading, and with technological advancements, it has become significantly easier to utilize this advertising method.

Additionally, it has become more crucial for businesses to understand how word-of-mouth marketing works to use this tool best and achieve optimal advertising results. 

Augmented Reality and the Evolution of Print

 

In a world full of new technology, augmented reality is used frequently. As a result, it’s now a great way to market your business.

Augmented Reality Explained

Augmented Reality (AR) is the layering of digital content like video, 3D, or 3D animation over real-world environments to create an engaging and interactive consumer experience.

It makes your print more interactive by encouraging people to download apps, use QR codes, and more. As a result, print has grown and is used in a new way.

Bringing People Closer to Products

WebAR, which they call AR and print, is now being used to bring people closer to their products and allow them to interact with them.

It will enable people to access the best of both worlds: Engaging and immersive experiences that are easy to access. WebAR is popular now and is an excellent accompaniment to tried-and-true print.

Both are needed in today’s market. Traditional print is tactile and is a great way to interact with customers because they are taking more time to look at their mail these days.

However, WebAR is a great way to further interact with customers because it is online and provides a more effortless and cost-effective way to promote your business.

As of February 2017, Pokémon Go became the first AR-centric app to reach 650 million downloads and can be credited with starting the mobile AR app movement.

We all remember people going crazy for this new game, which introduced us to a new type of reality.

Promote Effectively and Professionally

AR solves the dilemma of whether to invest in print or digital by providing marketers the ability to make the most of both worlds by seamlessly integrating their print and digital together, working in unison on the same marketing goal.

You no longer have to choose the best way to market your business. Instead, WebAR and print work closely together to promote effectively and professionally.

You can easily add immersive, interactive content to your magazine ads, postcards, brochures, and more.

Enhance Direct Mail

Now people can take your marketing product and scan it with their phones to find more information. Again, it’s a no-brainer, and it furthers your marketing efforts.

This allows them to answer their questions, make a purchase, and even promote it on social media.

You can even use tracking tags to see how far your marketing has gone. In fact, direct mail campaigns that were enhanced by AR delivered an increase in response rates from 2-3% to a massive 35%, so it makes sense to use AR.

In addition, AR solutions have finally become cost-effective and executable without intensive training or complex design software, allowing savvy marketers to take advantage of this unique advertising enhancement right now.

Whether you use a postcard, a brochure, a catalog, or other direct mail options, we can help you get the most out of your marketing efforts.

Check us out today!