Is customer service really important for a brand?

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. 

There’s a lot of work that businesses can be doing to secure a better brand image while bettering financial gain. From retail to hospitality, there’s always room for improvement regarding both your own staff and customer retention.

What do your customers think?
Despite what you may think, a lot of customers value their experience in-store than the product itself. Well, 76% of Brits do. 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. 

Businesses must understand that there is always room for improvement. According to one study, 80% of businesses already believe that they deliver a superior service to their consumers – but only 8% of shoppers actually agree with this statement.
Did you know that almost 50% of customers will become loyal after their initial visit if they deem your business to offer quality service. Not only that, but if you’re looking to increase your consumer acquisition rates – this is a good avenue to go down. 84% of people make a purchase because of a referral; so if your first impression is worthwhile, it could lead to additional business.

The next steps for your business
It’s important that brands invest in tailored workwear for their staff. 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 (considering religions etc).

For businesses that allow a relaxed dress code, they spend a lot of time reviewing what their staff are wearing which of course is an additional cost. As well as this, uniforms represent your business – so you must design them in the correct way and prioritise employee comfort to ensure you receive the best delivery from them.

Skill development is always a core area that you should be looking at. 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 this 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.

Research has suggested that customers will spend up to 13 minutes in a store — so it’s important that you deliver an exceptional service. Queues are notoriously long here in the UK and can be the biggest contributing factor to a customer’s walk-out. To combat this, why not look at queue management software and point of sales service?