Being the owner of a small business is often very frustrating. It can be a seemingly impossible task to try and compete with the large companies that control your industry. You can't try to match their prices because they will just lower theirs further due to better economies of scale. It is also often not possible for you to reach your target audience, whereas they have huge marketing budgets to spend.
There is, however, definitely one area in which you can excel and outperform against the competition. Customer service is an essential part of the purchasing process and it will often define the success of the business. A positve customer service experience arising from a transaction can lead to your business being recommended to numerous people. A negative transaction that is not resolved by customer service leads to extremely poor word-of-mouth feedback about your business.
Larger companies often have so many customers that they simply cannot manage to keep everyone happy. The “customer service nightmare” stories that you often hear are often due to the sheer volume of support requests that large businesses receive. Provided your small business has the right tools and systems in place to cope with demand, you can outcompete the big companies by providing excellent customer service.
One of the essential tools for any small business looking to improve customer service is an online helpdesk and ticketing system. This will help you keep track of all the support equiries that you receive and provide a permanent record of your customer service history, allowing you to train staff on the right and wrong way to deal with clients.
Using an online helpdesk and ticketing system is the best way for a small business to provide a personalised customer service experience that gives you a competitive advantage over the bigger players in your industry.
Disclosure:The author Stefan Töpfer is CEO of WinWeb.com - a leading cloud based small business infrastructure provider (small business software, e-Commerce solutions & business process outsourcing) - the views and opinions expressed are his and are based on over three decades of personal experience as a serial entrepreneur, #1 small business blogger, mentor and angel investor in the SME/SMB sector.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.