Do you put up with poor customer service?

30/10/2017

If you’re like us, your business will pride itself on delivering excellent customer service. But what do you do when, as a customer, you don’t receive the same courtesy?

Customer service is integral to positioning your business as a trustworthy and professional outfit. It reflects the fact you are equipped and personal enough to help out whenever you can, and can play a significant role in securing repeat business and recommendations.

That first sale in particular is crucial. Unless you’re in the minority and benefit from a niche market, one bad experience could lead to the customer looking elsewhere when they look for the same goods or services again. How many times has your business done the same?

It is, of course, easy to look elsewhere when you’re left unimpressed after a one-off purchase. But it can become much more difficult when customer service levels deteriorate once you’ve been using a supplier for a number of months.

Human nature dictates that you should be sympathetic. You’ll begin coming up with excuses as to why their service levels have declined – they must be under pressure; maybe someone’s left – and soon enough you’ll have convinced yourselves that changing suppliers is just too much hassle.

But should you stand for it, and when is enough, well, enough?

The idiom ‘better the devil you know’ is a major reason why so many businesses are content with what they have without reaching for the top. True, a change in supplier might create problems, but equally it could lead to a better future.

It isn’t only their level of service that could be inferior to their competition. Industry prices change all the time as businesses strive to secure new business – when’s the last time you reviewed the market to check you’re still benefiting from the best rates?

At a time when businesses are looking to cut costs and streamline their processes wherever possible, reassessing suppliers is one of the easiest ways to do so. Whether it’s your utilities provider, stationery supplier or even your business’s bank, there are usually savings to be made.

What’s stopping you from taking a look?

As a commercial finance broker we could help you benchmark your existing funding to see if your facility is working optimally for your business or whether there is an alternative option that could better serve your needs.

Contact us on 0800 9774833 or email info@hiltonbaird.co.uk to see if we could help you find a better deal for your business.