Hello!
Since you already know that this month’s newsletter’s topic is customer service, let’s dive straight in.
Four years ago I was part of a year-long yarn-and-pattern club with bi-monthly deliveries. The designer was in another country. All went well till the summer when the German postal service was on strike. We didn’t know when or even if we would get mail and when the strike would be over.
The yarn package was one which didn’t arrive and before I went to pester the poor people in the post office, I wrote to the customer service of the designer to ask if they had a chance to learn exactly where my package was at that timepoint because it was possible that it hadn’t arrived in Germany.
And then again I waited, for my yarn and for a reply to my email. I knew they had a lot to do and only three people working there, so I gave them time. Three days later the yarn arrived safely - but still no reply to my email, I couldn’t even be sure it had arrived.
But because I wanted to help, I wrote again (with my first email attached) to tell them, the yarn had arrived and they didn’t need to do anything anymore. And then I got a reply. It read something like this: “Oh, we are so happy we could help you.“
I was quite angry, and frankly I still am. (Nobody ever said I was the forgiving type, did they? :-)) Six months later I was at their stall at a festival and I could see the designer being lovely with customers - but their staff was rude to me and other people.
A few newsletters ago I talked about the customer being king or queen but to keep your boundaries in place as well. This still applies to this more general topic of customer service.
Simply said: Without customers there’s no business so you really need them and most of us can’t afford to lose them by being arrogant or rude or just uninterested.
It is a lot easier to keep a customer than getting a new one.
Read that sentence again. It’s the one to remember from this email.
How customer service should look like depends on your person, the size of your business and on what you’re offering but there are a lot of small(ish) things (by which I mean they don’t take too long and/or could be automated) we all can do.
Take my example above and you have the first few things:
1. Let people know you got their email - even an automated response is better than silence.
2. Reply to all emails with questions people can’t find the answer to anywhere else.
3. Don’t pretend you helped if you know you didn’t. Be honest. Sometimes you can’t help.
And here are some more:
4. Have a clearly named and easy to find section on your website or Ravelry group with FAQ where you can send people to for very common questions. Keep this up-to-date.
5. Put your contact data anywhere, make it really easy to find.
6. Be consistent: If you committed to doing something (reply to an email in the next 3 working days, write a monthly newsletter), then do it and keep doing it. You can always change your parameters if you notice you can’t manage. But keep your word.
7. On social media (Ravelry included):
* like posts about you or showing projects made from your patterns - I think this is the least you can do
* comment if you really like something - it doesn’t take long but it feels great to be noticed by a designer
* if you share projects, don’t discriminate against anyone when you do - Appreciate all your customers, not only those suiting your aesthetics. It’s hurtful not to be noticed and recognised.
8. Be clear on what people can expect.
9. Don’t get defensive if you’re being called out on a mistake. Mistakes happen but how you handle (or not handle) the situation can seriously harm your reputation - as shown just this week on Instagram.
10. You need to spend time on your customers. It’s work but it’s more work to find new customers!
11. Our community is small. Things are being talked about. Keep that in mind.
You see, some things are quite small but they work. And not doing them can seriously hurt your business.
Talk soon,
Frauke
Remember: you can’t have a business without customers so let them know that you appreciate them.