Marie Ganderton, Sales & Customer Service Manager,
Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce
It is an understatement to say that we have all had to adapt in some way over the past 3 months. The impact of Covid-19 continues to affect our daily lives and has caused motivation to review our daily routines, habits and ways of working.
Based on my experience, it is clear and understandable there is still a level of anxiety about returning to the workplace and adapting to the new normal. Businesses must do their best to understand customer’s changing needs to seek easy and simple ways of doing business in order to offset the underlying stress and concerns that we all face daily.
It is now critical that businesses work to appreciate and understand their customers’ as we all establish a new normal. As we all adapt to different ways of working, our products and services are easily accessed online, but is that enough to satisfy our consumer’s needs?
The pandemic has escalated our expectation of accurate information to guide us to make better decisions. Easily accessible information and quick response times will be valuable to satisfy customers and build relationships. Now more than ever, we need to be flexible and agile to react to changing events and guidelines.
Whilst many customers accept and understand changes in service as we all adapt to the new landscape, it is key that we acknowledge and build on this trust with open and honest communication. If response times are affected, be transparent and manage expectations so that customers do not feel undervalued or forgotten. We all appreciate contact in a timely manner, if you pledge to respond in 24 hours make sure you do, trust is fragile and has recently been tested further with raised anxiety levels. Adding to this with late replies or lack of acknowledgement could inextricably damage customer loyalty.
Where possible, we should be striving to exceed expectations and react proactively to deliver vital information to our customers, stay a step ahead by gaining a deeper level of understanding and enhance customer loyalty with better relationships. We can do this by taking the time to review the customer experience being delivered, question what do you expect and are you delivering this standard to your customers?
As we all adapt and evolve, now is the time to plan and change your customer experience model and this should include showing you care. It is essential to know your customers, who they are and what they need. From a stress-free shopping experience, to a business owner struggling with remote workinge need to know what their issues are and work with them to provide or guide them to the solution.
Reaching out to your customers to gain insight and show a genuine interest in their lives is essential as we move forward. Be ready to adapt to their needs and educate them as to how you can help.
At the Chamber we have pledged to reach out and attempt contact with all of our members over the past 3 months and will continue to strive to understand and support them all to the best of our abilities. This has been a valuable experience and has provided essential insight to our business and how we adapt to meet their needs.
In a time where products are easily accessible at the touch of a button, relationships will be key to customer retention and standing out from others. Even if this is from behind a face mask or at the end of a phone, we now more than ever put value in relationships and contact that has more recently been restricted.
If we can help to support your business, please get in touch with the Membership team: [email protected]
To find out more about Membership, visit: www.hwchamber.co.uk/membership