Good local customer service is nothing more than understanding what’s important to customers. Your goal should be to form a stable relationship with customers – a relationship that every customer would like to have. If your brand’s strategy has no tangible place to serve customers better, it’s time to change this approach. Why? It’s because local customer service is more than just face-to-face interactions. This is the new way businesses commit to becoming an anytime-accessible resource for people whenever they need it. It’s about putting customers front, left and centre of everything you do.
46% of searches have a local intent – quotes a recent Google report. It has become common for people to do a quick mobile or desktop search to find things nearby. With the local web being their constant companion, different search forms are used to grab the details they need. Here we help with techniques to boost your brand by establishing the local customer service ecosystem.
Below explained is the vital components to the Local Customer Service Ecosystem.
You have the local customer at the centre. Whenever a customer does a search, s/he would want to know information such as what product/service would they need, what businesses are nearby, who’s the best, cheapest, quickest, etc., where a business is located, whether it’s open or not, the best way to get to the business, and so on. It’s essential that your customer service should be able to help them with all of these problems, using the combination of the below aspects. It’s important because people usually act on a local search as it answers a need they have in the moment.
When it comes to in-store, a good customer service should have things like:
- A brand policy that protects the rights and dignity of staff and consumers.
- Trained staff who are well versed in policy, products and services – who are ready to go the extra mile to satisfy customers.
- Usage of clear in-store signage, improved checkout experience (by supporting all payment forms) and quick resolution to issues.
- Cleanliness, safety and reduced inconvenience
For a website, good customer service is all about:
- Reader-friendly content equally accessed by all devices
- Accreditations, affiliations, licenses and reviews
- Quick access to contact information, maps and hours of operation, click-to-call phone numbers
- Terms & conditions, companies policies explaining brand and consumer rights
What you are doing is helping customers to find what they need in the quickest possible time while looking attractive and accessible.
Good customer service for organic SERPs includes; using structured citations for managing the first few pages of organic SERPs. Newsletters, special offers and usage of accessible email addresses works best for email customer service.
When it comes to reviews, the accuracy of business information on review websites is important. Quick responses to both positive and negative reviews, monitoring them and guiding customers to leave reviews are all that needs to be done.
For links, getting inbound links from relevant sites (that are of use to customers) will work. Good customer service in technology involves better website usability, providing apps, tools and widgets to improve customer experience, brand accessible social profiles, etc.
Social monitoring of brand name, effective user engagement and advocacy are important when it comes to the social part. Google My Business involves implementing all of Google’s local features, spam monitoring and advocacy for Google.
Know What Your Customers’ Problems Are
There will be situations when your customers are stuck somewhere without knowing what to do next. The problem may be big or small depending on the situation they are in. It’s during these times that your brand should recognize the problems and provide them with a solution. Unlike decades ago when customers walked into stores and ask for their needs, people today are turning to their phones every time when they look for something. This has made competitive local businesses to include customer problems to their strategy. Explained below are 3 factors that hinder the success of modern customer service.
Bragging About Brand – Be it TV ads, web contents or social media advertising, businesses follow a brand-centric focus without knowing that a very least number of customers care for them. We do find boast posts in social media and million dollar ad campaigns doing no good to the business brand. Bragging only conveys negative information about brands, whereas simple, elegant solutions would always work.
Ethical Issues – A considerable majority of business brands fail to put people over profits resulting in lawsuits, scandals, fines and untrustworthiness. Deceiving people is not good customer service, rather having a customer-centric approach will take your local business to the next higher level.
Strategy Lacking – Many brands lack the strategy that makes up a satisfying customer experience, which is not always right. You should make an important step of creating a customer-focused vision to help improve customer satisfaction and revenue. Having an emotional connection with your customers is sure to boost sales growth. ‘Emotionally engaged customers are at least three times more likely to recommend your product or service’ – states a Harvard Business Review study.
The whole point is, by having a greater focus on customer experience strategy, you’re definitely going to have a positive impact on revenue, retention and customer loyalty.
If you want to know how to develop your website to succeed within the local search ecosystem then do contact us today and discover just what you should do next to please your local customers.
