5 Communication Tips for the Service Business

The top thing you need to focus on as a business owner is communication. Information is what keeps your team moving. It makes happy customers. It converts prospects to customers.

Elevating customer satisfaction through excellent communication is what we do every day for our clients at Pink Callers. We want to share some tips to help you use communication to your best advantage.

Tip 1: Over Communicate

Don’t be afraid to over-do communication. Add more to whatever you think is necessary. Make sure you build in more than one notice and reminders. Use several methods – phone, email, text, etc.

Everyone is busy, and messages get missed. You want to be sure that important information gets to the people who need it. Regularly reach out to your customers will make all interactions with your business more memorable and will make your customers feel valued.

We find that over-communicating, especially with customers, is the best way to head off problems. Most often, it is a lack of information that leads to dissatisfaction.

Tip 2: Commit to a Level of Service

Don’t leave communication to chance. Have a plan to make sure all the bases are covered.

Have a plan for communicating with your team. How will they get information in a timely way? What are the expectations for what they need to do to communicate with you and with customers?

Map out the communication touch points with prospects and customers. Know what you will to from the first contact through to being hired for service and beyond. Your awesome level of communication will help ensure that customers return to you again and again.

Tip 3: Get and Use Feedback

Make sure your customers have a way to share their opinions about your business. Whether it’s a customer survey taken by phone or email or an invitation to share reviews on websites like Yelp or Facebook, you need let customers share their feedback.

When customers feel like you are listening to what they have to say, you reinforce their satisfaction or give yourself an opportunity to correct issues.

Never ignore negative feedback. It doesn’t matter who’s right or who’s wrong. In the best case scenario addressing problems can increase customer loyalty and generate referrals. At the very least, you can avoid negative word-of-mouth (in person and online) about your brand.

Tip 4: Nurture People Skills

Hiring people with good communication skills is essential for success of any service business. Everyone on your team will likely be the face of your business at some point with customers and other team members. You want everyone who is part of the team to represent the team well.

Foster the right culture by treating employees with the same respect, transparency and appreciation as a valued customer. The happier your employees are, the more dedicated they’ll be to your success.

Tip 5: Awesome (Free!) Tools that Help

There are many free tools to support your communication efforts. Here are two of our faves:

Trello

Trello lets you work collaboratively and get more done. Trello’s boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible, and rewarding way. Document follow up tasks and promises made to customers, so you won’t forget them.

Slack

Slack brings all your communication together. Teamwork in Slack happens in channels — a single place for messaging, tools and files — helping everyone save time and collaborate together.

Never Stop Communicating

Your team members and customers have choices. Make sure they hear from you regularly, so they know that they are valuable. Great, consistent communication is your chance to differentiate your product and exceed expectations to build a loyal customer base and make your business successful.

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