“Your call is VERY important to us. Please stay on the line and an agent will speak with you…“
HAHAHA. Lol. Very funny!
No, really.
I recently moved, and I’ve phoned more customer service lines in the past two weeks than in the past 2 decades.
Whether it’s Amazon, my bank, my other bank, my credit card company, my leasing office (like 20 times), Amazon again, or the DMV…
I’ve heard some variation of that very first line enough to be a billionaire… had I earned a penny for every time I heard it.
Here’s the thing:
I never felt like a valued customer. Like my call was “very important.”
Especially with Amazon, which continues to deliver my packages late (or not at all).
So why does this rant matter to you?
This is where you, small business owner, can destroy your giant corporate competition.
2020: The Pandemic Year and It’s Effect on Business
During 2020, an untold number of small businesses went under. And it made me sad.
Like, actually sad. Not “I’m saying I’m sad to make a point.”
But plenty of small businesses were also launched.
Meanwhile, giant corporations were laying off staff (yes, not all of them, but some of them) because they didn’t want to go under… while people were shopping online at record levels.
And now, these same giant corporations (and every other business) have dealt with a labor shortage. That, alongside the efficiency benefits of automation, makes it tempting to create giant, annoying, automated phone trees.
I don’t know about you, but automated phone trees have answered 2 of the 581725862323 questions I’ve ever called companies about.
Usually, I’ve had to fight and swear my way to a human agent (who I was kind to, don’t worry!)
The whole time, I’m told my call is “very important” to the company, and when I finally reach someone, I can tell they’re reading a canned script.
Maybe it works for these companies. Maybe the automated phone trees save them more money than the money they lose on pissed customers.
But that’s where you can swoop in and add to your bottom line.
To beat them, be honest, authentic, and personable.
Honest, Authentic, Personable, and Customer-Oriented
Just like I said. Doing/being these 4 things will make a lot of your customers appreciate you a lot more. They won’t feel stranded and screwed over when they have a problem.
Commit to helping each and every customer. Understand their pain points before your product, but also any issues they may run into with it. Create content that can help them address any issues and be proactive about solving their product-related problems.
Focus on solving their problems with sincere effort and making their life easier. They’ll reward you with undying loyalty and plenty of $$$.
This is the opposite approach some corporations seem to take, which is hyper-focusing on their bottom line.
And yes, you can use automations, too. You don’t have to be available 24/7 for your clients or customers.
But when you make those automations, make them sound human. And be honest in them.
For example, you can write an automated customer service email that sounds like a real human wrote it. No “your business is very to us” generic boilerplate crap.
Instead, maybe “Hey, thanks for reaching out. I’m glad you chose us, and I’m sorry to hear you’re having some trouble. My customer service people will help you out asap.”
Have that email go out when someone reaches out with a customer service question.
Notice the “I’m”, not “we’re”. Make it person-to-person. Makes it sound less “faceless corporation-esque”.
So in short: be personable, honest, and customer-oriented. Prioritize making your customers’ lives easier… and they’ll prioritize you.
Anyways, this post was a bit of a rant… but I thought I’d turn it into something helpful for small businesses that need ways to compete against the big boys.
Need help creating personal marketing communications? Reach out to me now.