Anybody who fell in love with Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka character remembers vividly young Veruca demanding her own golden goose. I want this and that. “I don’t care how; I want it now”, she claims. While Veruca is supposed to be a spoilt character, her attitude is not far from modern-day customers. Ultimately, just like Veruca, we live in a world where you can get anything we want in a matter of seconds. All we need to do is click to order a takeaway, sort out a same day Amazon delivery or simply open a bank account. As a result, it would be unfair to ask customers to wait. After all, they are used to get everything now. So how can you best meet their expectations as a small business owner?
Give the people the content they crave
Regardless of your market, you need to share your insights and news with your audience. Your blog acts as a platform that allows you to showcase your personality and develop your expertise. While not every blog can become a success overnight, your customers expect you to provide a stream of regular content pieces throughout the year. You need to create content regularly as many customers perceive the blog as a bridge that connects them to your business. Admittedly, you don’t have to worry about daily posts, but it’s important to establish a routine. Business blogs should be aiming for one to two articles per month.
No, your customers don’t want to wait another day
At a time where most of us expect a same day or next day delivery with a company such as Amazon, you need to be competing on the same terms if you want to remain relevant. Offering same day courier delivery for all orders passed and processed before a specific time during the day can help to raise your profile. Ideally, you should also pick courier services that provide tracking information for your customers to be able to plan for delivery.
They need an answer now
Your FAQ page is the most important page on your website. It provides an answer to the most frequent questions and therefore, can guide potential or existing customers. An effective FAQ page reduces customer service time by clarifying things for the users. Additionally, to keep your page relevant, you need to add new content and tackle further questions regularly. It’s a good idea to add a search function where visitors can type in their subjects. You should also make a point of answering social media queries ASAP – preferably within the hour during your opening hours.
Can you get people to wait?
In an ideal world, every order would be delivered the same day, and every customer would find the answer they need in a few seconds. However, this isn’t an ideal world. Sometimes things go wrong, and your customers have to wait. When it is the case, you need to be quick to react. Informing your customers ASAP of the delay is a no-brainer. But you can be sure that a commercial gesture to ease their pain will also make a great deal of difference.
“I don’t care how; I want it now!”
Without over-simplifying your customers’ expectations, there is a lot of truth in Veruca’s words. Most customers don’t want to consider your business processes. What they are interested in is for you to match the quality and speed of services they receive from your competitors. Delivering parcels, information and support as quickly as you can is a big differentiator in today’s market.
- This post has been written by an outside source – See Disclosure Policy
