How consumers view your business is critical to its success — or failure. Brand awareness is one of the most significant factors that contribute to the successful running of a business. You want to make a great first impression that will last if you have aims to increase your consumer base and become a thought-leader in your sector.
Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities when it comes to enhancing the customer experience and your brand’s persona. Here, we look at what businesses can do to improve their customer service and boost their brand image to earn financial benefits. From retail and tech to fashion and hospitality, there’s always room for improvement.
The customer experience and how they view a brand
Just over three-quarters of adults in the UK claim that a good customer experience is more important than what they wish to buy. Although you should also be prioritising the quality of your products (to reduce returns and negative reviews), you should be constantly reviewing your current customer service methods and continually think of ways that you can improve the overall service.
Are you sure you’re offering the best service to your customers? According to one study, 80% of businesses already believe that they deliver a superior service to their consumers — but only 8% of shoppers agree with this statement.
If you give good customer service, nearly half of those surveyed said that they’d become loyal to a brand — meaning repeat custom — following their first purchase. 84% of people make a purchase because of a referral, so if your first impression is worthwhile, it could lead to additional business. That means considering everything from how your staff interact with customers to which corporate clothing supplier you use to provide a smart and professional uniform for employees to give that positive first impression.
How to stand out as an excellent customer service provider
What your staff wear is vital to displaying a beneficial first impression. You need to ensure that your employees are identifiable to customers and this can only be achieved by designing a uniform that stands out, while catering to each type of individual that works for you (i.e. considering religious views).
Constantly checking that your staff are dressed appropriately is time-consuming when they wear their own clothes — uniforms solve this issue. As well as this, uniforms represent your business — so you must design them in the correct way and prioritise employee comfort.
Another aspect you must consider is training and development — are your staff knowledgeable on how to deliver good customer service? This should cover ways that they interact with consumers of all kind (race, religion, disability) and offer the most efficient service possible to show that you’re a reputable brand. On top of training, you should also make your staff aware of any new products or services that you begin to offer so that they can give customers all of the information that they require.
Your employees are obviously integral to your business, but there are other features to consider. Research has suggested that customers will spend up to 13 minutes in a store — so it’s important that you work to make this time positive and enjoyable. Queues are notoriously long in the UK and can be the biggest contributing factor to a customer walking out without purchasing anything. To combat this, why not look at queue management software and point of sales service?
Good customer service is critical, so make it a priority!
Sources:
https://www.lucidpress.com/blog/25-branding-stats-facts
https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/successful-branding-for-entrepreneurs-statistics/
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/retail-uniforms-good-or-bad-2889981
