Effective communication with customers is essential for the health of your business. In Screen Printing there are many contact points between you and your customer, and you should both be clear on the desired outcome. In this post we discuss exceeding customer expectations using communication and how excellent communication will grow your business, old and new.
Exceeding Customer Expectations with Over Communication
You have got the hardest part done, you have landed a customer, yay! Now it’s time to wow your customer by exceeding their expectations at every corner. Yes, you can wow them with your sweet screen-printing skills but over communicating with your customer is where you will reap the most reward.
How can you do this? We got you. Let’s use an example.
Jessica wants T-shirts printed for her besties rager bachelorette weekend. Not only will Jessica want the prints to be perfect (these need to be better than Susan’s Bach) but she will need them in time for her flight to Miami. Now Jessica has a lot on her plate and t-shirts are just one task she is responsible for. Here is how you can truly impress her with communication alone.
- Communicate all the services you offer. Is there any additional services you offer that can help a girl out? Such as labeling and bagging each t-shirt. Jessica will be happy to simply hand out t-shirts instead of checking all the neck tags for sizes and you just made money with an upsell.
- Listen. Communication goes both ways. What is she looking for? Can you help her improve upon the design or offer design services to achieve exactly what she is looking for? Maybe this customer has had a previous bad experience, ensure this won’t happen again.
- Be honest. Does the client want something you know won’t look good? Give your opinion before you print the shirt. Remember you have done this many times, she hasn’t.
- Email a size guide with T-shirt fits so she knows exactly how t-shirts will fit each unique girl. This helps to personalize communication with your client.
- Send proofs as soon as they are ready. Don’t make her chase you down to know what they look like.
- Give the upfront cost. No hidden fees. Jessica is going to be on the brink of a bankruptcy after this bachelorette party. She needs to know all the costs of doing business with you.
- Set a firm deadline. Ease her anxiety and give her a deadline she can rely on. She needs those matching girl gang shirts; they are Instagram gold.
- Communicate showstoppers quickly. If for any reason there will be a delay on the print, she needs to know, asap. Give her time to figure something out. I promise this will be a lot less painful then telling her at 6am before a flight the shirts just can’t be done in time. Yikes.
Now, Jessica is stoked on her shirts. How does this excellent communication benefit you?
- Repeat business. Jessica is coming back. You made everything so crystal clear and the personalized communication made her buying experience amazing. This will bring her back time and time again.
- New Business. This girl has a whole gang, and they are all getting married. Word spreads quick after a few white claws, you now have 10 new customers. Word of mouth marketing is the cheapest most effective marketing. Doing business with you was so easy and smooth, why would they trust anyone else?
- Peace of Mind – Communication with customers can be tough, everyone expects something different. However, in this situation your over communication cleared up many potential bumps in the road before they could emerge. Save your energy for the press not future stress.
Here are a few other communication tips to enhance your customer communication strategy:
- Be yourself. People like to talk to genuine people; make them comfortable trusting you with their print job and money
- Develop a standard of communication. Customer communication management should be a workflow in your operations. Set times daily to respond to email or calls to make sure no customer feels neglected or like they can’t get ahold of you.
- Make communication easy. Does your customer know how to email you quickly? Do they have a business card, email or phone number saved?
If you have any customer tips or advice, we are all ears. Effective communication is an underated power tool that can grow your business to new heights.
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