As a business owner, what’s your most important asset? Sure, your products, vehicles, and team come to mind; but the primary driver of your business is your customers. Without them, you wouldn’t have a business to run, that’s why many owners are now investing more resources in their customer service. Here are three major reasons for providing a great – not just good – customer experience.
Customer retention is vital
Happy customers are loyal customers. Manager of Customer Experience at Hino, Marion van der Krogt, knows the importance of building trust with customers and has recently introduced some initiatives to take Hino from good to great. “As part of our ongoing investment into our customers, this year we took ownership and have opened a dedicated in-house call centre to improve the overall support to our customers and connect them directly to the centre of our operations.”
Marion explains. “We wanted to engage with and know more about our customers. But we’re also more than a call centre, we have a total support philosophy at Hino; from engineering to sales enquiries, we work closely with other departments so we will always find the right person in the business to ensure we get an answer for our customers. By having a central location, we also add value and build stronger relationships with our dealer network.”
Remember customer service isn’t just one department. At some point every member of staff is involved in customer service. Providing your customers with the right support solutions can make all the difference.
Marion’s tip: People only stay loyal to a company if they have a reason to do so. By providing the best service you can, it will build the foundation of trust and with trust comes loyalty.
Satisfied customers are your business champions
Word of mouth is still an unbeatable driver of customer acquisition. A satisfied customer is more likely to recommend your company to friends and colleagues, which increases your visibility. Satisfying your customer can mean setting up enquiry or feedback processes to make it smooth and easy.
“Mostly, our customers call up with sales or parts enquiry, but if they have a complaint, we have a process put in place so there can be actionable improvement on our part,” Marion says. “We also have a dedicated customer care manager who ensures all enquiries and complaints are handled in accordance to the process”.
If customers know that they can voice complaints and have it handled properly, they will feel more comfortable doing business with you. By listening to your customers it can also assist with improving the quality of your products and service. It’s a win – win situation for both parties.
Marion’s tip: Record your customer calls so you know their history with your business. At Hino, we’ve set-up a CRM (customer relationship management) system, which stores all our customer interactions and data. No matter where you are in Australia, a customer can call the Care Centre and they will have your customer profile and history at hand to best assist with your enquiry.
You can get invaluable insights
Gathering customer data is an integral part of customer service. By gaining feedback and unique insights from your customers you can refine and scale your business resulting in a better offering.
“After every purchase, we call up the customer and welcome them to the Hino family. We ensure their details are correct and ask them about their experience. All insights are then delivered to the dealer network to improve processes, build our network quality and enhance the customer experience.” Marion explains.
Marion’s tip: Try to offer a unique value proposition for your customers. Our Care Centre is part of our investment in customer support and our growing Hino Advantage suite of business solutions. We are the first Hino distributor worldwide to offer such a facility.
Remember there is a difference between “good” and “great” customer service. Don’t just do the bare minimum to keep the customer satisfied, go above and beyond to keep them loyal.
Need support?
- Hino Care Centre is available from 8:30am to 8:00pm AEST, on 1-300-01-HINO.
- Hino Roadside Assist is available 24/7 anywhere in Australia, on 1-800-MY-HINO.