Making more sales calls. Expanding service offerings. Exploring new niches. Lowering overhead.

When you think of all the things your staffing firm can and should be doing to make it through this downturn, does “improving customer service” even break the top 10?

It should!

Here are 3 ways Shareworthy Service can make a big difference to your bottom line in this economy:

Deliver a WOW.

Delivering a WOW is all about providing little unexpected extras for clients to surprise, delight and amaze them. Here are a few ways to deliver service WOWs:

· When answering a question, try to anticipate what else a client might need - and provide that, too.

· Step into your customers’ shoes and serve them with empathy.

· Work to quickly identify the root cause of issues (so they don’t crop up again).

· Always try to “do the right thing” (i.e., treat your customer the right way in each situation).

· Make every client interaction the best it can be.

· Provide smart advice, even if it doesn’t directly pertain to using your services.

Customer service WOWs come from thinking, caring and doing. Train your entire team to look for opportunities to deliver a WOW in every service experience with your staffing firm.

Retain more customers during tough times.

Being dropped by a client hurts during the best of times. Right now, it can threaten the very survival of your staffing agency. Here are three ways to create deeper connections with your clients and improve customer retention:

· Talk time. Direct your sales team to get to know their contacts better as professionals and people. By shifting the focus from selling to understanding customers’ pain points, your account managers will uncover business opportunities that elevate your staffing firm from “vendor” to “partner.”

· WOWism. As described above, WOWing customers starts with building the systems to deliver consistently remarkable client experiences – and then empowering your team to deliver them.

· Multi-touch. Build client connections at multiple levels within your staffing or recruiting firm. This way, even if a key employee leaves you, you will have other contacts established who can maintain the relationship during the transition.

Use customer service as a source of competitive differentiation.

Exceptional customer service can help differentiate your company and provide sustainable competitive advantage. When clients give you great feedback, you can leverage that feedback in your marketing – and stand out from the crowd:

· Turn testimonials into branded graphics to share across your social platforms.

· Use positive feedback as the starting point for developing case studies that demonstrate the results your amazing service delivers.

· Add testimonials throughout your website.

Throughout the recovery, Shareworthy Service can help you stand out, strengthen relationships, increase customer retention and generate more business. If you need help implementing any of these ideas, connect with one of our marketing educators.