Why is service in business, so bad?

Now that’s a really good question! Because if business owners actually understood what it’s probably costing them, something might actually change!

This past month, I’ve done a little bit of seminar attending, and spent a couple of days listening to one group talk about marketing all day and another talk about a number of other things, but not one addressed possibly the simplest way to build a business and without having to do any additional marketing, move into a better location, or spend a fortune on a business coach. The answer is simple! Just service the clients you have better, or in fact so well, that they tell others. It’s all about service!

Here’s just a couple of examples to give you a clearer idea of what I’m talking about.

• My wife walked into a local fruit and veg shop recently, normally she would go into one of the bigger chains, but thought she would give him a go. She asked a young guy, what’s the best pumpkin for a soup. He didn’t look at her, just said butternut and kept doing what he was doing! Didn’t even look up or stop what he was doing. Another young girl had seen what had happened, walked over and realised that my wife was unhappy with that, and started to talk about what she does for her pumpkin soup.
• We are planning an overseas trip soon, we have now walked into three of the larger travel groups, spent time there giving details and not one has got back to us, without me having to chase them up! Not one!

You seriously could go on all day, poor service, poor attitude, no followup in either service or sales, and much more all service related! How hard can this be!

So the question is why? Is there a belief that it’s easier to just wait for the next customer to walk in, or who cares if they don’t. Let’s take the fruit and veg guy.

• Let’s say you spend $50 per week on fruit and veg, but like many people, you split your shopping. Maybe the local guy, but maybe anyone of the big chains, Coles, Woolies, or Aldi. $50 per week is $2500 per year plus.
• Someone walks in once to buy a pumpkin, but never comes back, or gets great service and continues to spend $2500 there every year and refers her friends, neighbours and everyone else!
• What if you actually kept in touch, and email this weeks specials, and what to do with that butternut pumpkin, maybe even a recipe?

Let’s take the trip and I’m about to walk into yet another agent to book it this week!

• The trip will be worth at least $7500, but we travel regularly, it won’t be the last trip.
• What’s it worth to build even a basic relationship, and keep in touch with a prospective customer. Even get back to them?

It’s seven times easier to hang onto a client, than it is to find a new one. That alone would make you realise I need to work harder on keeping my existing clients, and keeping them happy!

But there’s more to service than just being nice! It fits around a number of key aspects of how building a business successfully all work together.

If all you did, was improve one aspect of your business, consider service. It’s the part that lets just about every business down to some degree. Understand that and you are miles ahead. Here are just three simple things you could do, to make a massive difference to where your business is now:

1. Acknowledge clients when they walk in within seven seconds. That’s all the time you have for an average person to get frustrated with the lack of contact. Smile, look at them, get into a little dialogue and if your busy with another customer, tell them you won’t be too long.
2. Ad value, even look for simple opportunities to up sell. Would you like a cake to go with that coffee? Know your product, be able to give ideas and suggestions of what and how they can use it. (Like what pumpkin goes well in soup and maybe even an idea of where to get a recipe!)
3. And followup. Everyone can do this. It could be the difference between a client, or their friend coming back, or going to the competition instead. It’s about you staying in their front of mind, not your competition.

To many people are looking for the complicated answer to getting their business really booming, more marketing, better signage or maybe discount, when in fact, it’s probably about many of the things that you don’t do, that stops your business from the growth and success you want.

Mybusinessnow and the Business360 program are all about training, upskilling and reinstalling many of the things that may have once been there, support with integrated solutions to make everything work easier and less complicated.

For more information, contact us at erwin@mybusinessnow.com.au or just go to our website at www.mybusinessnow.com.au

It’s the simple things that can make a BIG difference in business, it’s time to uncomplicated your business and grow!