Small Business Marketing Tips

[AutoShopOwner]

Money versus Customer Service

One goal of any auto repair business is to provide quality service that people want to buy.  We’ve all seen or heard about what can happen when people get poor service and complain about it.  Law suits are filed all the time against companies for unethical practices and faulty products.  Earning more money is not to be gained at the expense of proper customer service.

How important is customer service?  It is a vital part of your auto repair business.  Satisfied customers keep coming back.  They will tell their friends about you and they will buy from you.  It is the way that business owners ensure that their business will continue.

I try to put myself in the customer’s shoes.  Actually, I am not just a small business owner but a consumer as well.  I know what constitutes excellent customer service to me and anyone I do business with deserves no less than that.

One thing about customers; you never know who they know.  Any one of them could be a person with a lot of influence in their town or city.  A word from them could send people to your website.  On the other hand, their job could allow them the opportunity to tell others of influence that you don’t provide good customer service.

All right, so it could be a hundred to one shot that one of your customers is someone like this.  But, the average customer who is concerned about customer service can post a bad review on forums, eBay, and other places where you may be looking for new customers.  And, the truth is, people flock to bad news.  They will think twice about using your services if it is floating around in the ether that you are a bad egg.

As your auto repair business grows, so will your customer service responsibilities.  The people who purchase goods or use your services are more than dollar signs.  They have lives and spheres of influence.  Treating each one like gold is our responsibility.

It is a mistake to think that your business could ever get so big that one customer doesn’t count.  It is also a mistake to think that providing a cheap product just to make money won’t come back to haunt you.  It is a fact that it will.  You could be on the receiving end of a suit.  This is not a good way to do business.

But, neither profits nor customer service has to be suspended to have a successful business.  It you feel that customer service is getting lax because you are spending most of your time marketing the business, consider outsourcing parts of the operation.  Set up email drafts and use other features to handle emails effectively and in a timely manner.

There is always a way to make it work.  Consistently providing good customer service will help expand your customer base and your image on the Internet.  This is vital to continued growth in your industry.

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