Disclosure: This post may contain links. Some but not all of these links may be affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I could earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Several Sundays ago, I was at a salon, getting my nails done when I had the sudden inspiration to write about the importance of customer service, especially online. You have probably guested why – yep, the salon didn’t have very good customer service. So, let’s explore what they did wrong, how those same things apply to the online world, and what you can do instead.
When you have good customer service, potential clients become clients and existing clients refer you to others, buy your other products and services, and write great testimonials. So, if you find that you’re losing clients, it might be due to some holes in your customer service.
Below, you’ll discover the top five customer service essentials to ensure you stop losing those potential clients that you’ve worked so hard to attract.
This shouldn’t have to be said, but I’m going to say it anyways, customer service isn’t the only thing that could cause you to lose clients. If you’re finding that you’re not getting clients or are losing the potential clients you currently have, send me a message with what you do and your important links, so I can help shed some light on possible opportunities for improvement and/or ways I might be able to help you improve your online presence, lead generation, copy writing, etc.
If you were curious about how my nails turned out, check ’em out…
You’re not greeting new connections.
When you accept a new friend request, add someone into your group, or receive comments on a post, are you acknowledging them? Are you thanking them for becoming part of your circle or engaging with your content?
If you’re not, perhaps it’s time to start.
So, why should you implement this?
Easy. People remember their first impression. It doesn’t matter how much they end up liking you, they’ll always remember what they thought of you in the beginning. Wouldn’t you like that to be a positive impression?
As far as replying to comments, that’s a little different. Whenever you reply to a comment, the commenter gets notified. The more times you come across their radar, the more likely it is that they’ll remember you and will become interested in what you have to offer.
Here’s a brick-and-mortar example:
At the salon, I saw customer after customer come in yet they were not greeted. Because of this several people just left, deciding the facility wasn’t for them. I wasn’t even greeted until I had been there over an hour, but I had already signed my name to the book and gotten the pricing brochures (from behind the counter).
You don’t seem approachable.
There are many ways this can present itself. If your profile photo is of someone frowning or that seems upset, people many not even waste their time trying to get to know you. However, I find that there are two common ways that business owners can seem unapproachable. 1.) Their tone or the terminology they use either in their videos or in the text on posts/messages is condescending, negative, or down-right bitchy. 2.) They make it seem like they’re too busy to be bothered. This could show up by being very curt in messages, taking a long time to respond, or by actually stating how busy you are.
When you’re trying to sell anything online, especially something in the spiritual or woowoo arena, you want your positive energy and brilliant personality to shine. If you’re giving off poopy vibes, no one will want to buy what you have to offer.
Real-Life Stories: I could make a totally separate blog post, hell, a book about some of the shitty ways I’ve been talked to by business owners over the years, both online and off-line. There are a few that stick out.
1.) I once had a business coach argue with me about how much I had or didn’t have on my Facebook profile. (Facts: I had what she said I didn’t. Yes, I was shitty back and sent screen shots.)
This coach is still on my friends’ list. I like her content, but I’ll never work with her in a coaching way. She has other services, like many of us do. I am not opposed to purchasing one of those services, but she will never be my business coach. (And, yes, even business coaching have business coaches.)
2.) I had gotten on a sales call with a different business coach and was genuinely interested in what she and her partner had to offer. After talking with the woman, she had an approach that wasn’t aligned with my business, but she insisted that I “wouldn’t reach [my] income goals” if I didn’t do what she suggested and didn’t work with them. Needless to say, the call ended with her saying “well, I guess there’s nothing else for us to say to each other,” me agreeing, and us ending the Zoom.
This particular coach and her partner offer free trainings all the time, although there is a TON of “fluff” in their trainings. They’re very involved in many groups I’m in and have been quite helpful to alot of women. However, I don’t even want to watch their free stuff any more because the one woman was so awful to me. I have never been so mad at a fellow business woman in my life than I was in that moment. That will always stick in my brain.
3.) At the salon? When I was greeted, it was with a “Can I help you with somethin’?!” Really. That’s how you’re going to greet a paying customer? I wanted to say, “No shit, Sherlock. Why do you think I’m here?” But I didn’t. I was polite.
While I liked my nails, I probably won’t go back.
4.) I had recently become friends with a woman in the spiritual realm. I can’t remember now what the service was that she offered, but it was definitely something I was interested at the time. I believe it had something to do with mindset and reversing childhood/inherited beliefs. However, every single photo of her looked like she was having the most miserable day or hated the fact that she had to have her photo taken.
If I’m going to open up about my childhood or let people into my energy field, I want that person to be positive. They don’t have to have their life totally together or be happy all the time, but I would like them to give off the vibe that their embodying what they offer, y’know? As you can guess, I never reached out to this woman about her services.
You’re taking too long to follow-up.
If you talked to someone via messaging or a sales call, and they needed time to think about your offer, it’s totally okay to give them some time, but don’t give them too much time. If you create an opt-in or a freebie post, don’t take weeks to respond. It’s totally reasonable to take a few days to respond, especially if your post goes viral. After all, you don’t want to be put in Facebook jail for commenting too many times.
If you take too long in the follow-up, people may end up purchasing from someone else. I know because this has happened to me.
A good way to ensure you’re able to keep track of who to follow-up with and when is to use a client relationship management system (CRM). Alternatively, you can create post-its that remind you, or create your own client follow-up system in services like Excel, Asana, or Trello. For replying to comments, I suggest pre-planning your posts to allow you the time necessary to reply or to hire a VA who can do the replying for you. You can find some pretty inexpensive ones on Fiverr.
Real Life Examples:
I won a free intuitive reading during a challenge back in December. The woman stated that she would be getting up with me after the New Year. Well, unless she meant the spiritual New Year, that has long since past as it is now April.
This makes me doubt that she ever will, and has me wondering if she does this for her paid clients. But, to be honest, it’s been so long that I don’t even remember her name.
On numerous occasions, I have been tagged in a comment reply with freebie information, but it had been so long since I commented on the post that I had forgotten what it was that I had even requested.
Because the time wasn’t quick, I was often too busy to check it out in that new moment. If it was a calendar link for a free session, I’d sometimes forget what the session was for and just wouldn’t book it because Facebook doesn’t always show the associated post. That’s why it’s a good idea to give some context to your replies, freebies or otherwise, like “Here is the link to sign-up for your Reiki healing session.”
At the salon, there were two pairs of women that had come in, put their name on the sign-in sheet, and then decided to leave because no one followed up with them to tell them how long it would take, what to expect, etc, so is it any surprise that these ladies went to other salons? That’s 4 sales that particular salon lost out on!
You’re not making it easy for people to contact you or your company.
I’ve heard countless women say “I don’t answer DMs.” So, you’re telling me that you could have potential client after potential client, asking questions about your products and services or wanting to get clarity on something you’ve created, and you’re totally ignoring them?
This is the exact same as having a physical business location, like the salon, and completely ignoring your phone calls or emails.
If someone is reaching out to YOU about your posts or your products and services, they’re warmed up. Pssst. That means that it’s easier to convert them to buyers.
Energetically speaking, if you’re not open to receiving questions, comments, and inquiries, you’re blocking your earning potential and blocking gifts that GUS (God/Universe/Source) wants to give you.
Avoiding contact isn’t the only way that you could be making it hard for potential and existing clients to contact you or your company.
If you’re not making it clear HOW someone can buy your products or services or contact you for questions, they probably won’t. Too many times, I see business owners that don’t have links on their profile pages to their website or check out page or even their business pages. Make sales ridiculously easy by simply having easy ways for your potential clients to purchase.
Real Life Examples:
Calls were coming in at the salon, but no one answered. There also didn’t seem to be a clear direction of who to talk to if you were inside the actual salon and had questions or concerns. This lost the salon clients and also created distrust for the in-person clients.
Quite a few months ago now, I was on Instagram and saw someone post some really beautiful crystals for sale. However, she didn’t have a link on her profile to purchase them and didn’t explain how to purchase in her post. Normally, I wouldn’t have reached out, but I was curious about her process, so I PMed her. She told me that I could just ask her if a particular crystal was still available and then she would send me a link to pay her for it. That was all fine and well, but most people wouldn’t know that. I’m sure she is missing out on sales because she isn’t making the buying and contact process simple.
A client of mine had been in the health and wellness space for a while, but wasn’t making any sales. As soon as we started talking, I suggested that she update her personal profile with her business page, her links, and a good photo. She started marketing a little more, explaining her why and providing a “call to action” to her posts. In less than two weeks, she got her first sale! Yes, she did have to market her services, but she also made it easy for potential clients to contact and buy from her.
You’re not listening to what your clients or potential clients need and want.
As business owners, we often assume we know what our clients want or need, but that’s not always what they actually need/want.
Have you ever… thought “I wish that…” about a product, service, or business? What if your clients or potential clients are too?
In most cases, you’re getting to know your potential clients before they become buyers. When you’re doing that either through DMs, free sessions, calls, etc, it’s important to ask them powerful questions to get to know them better and learn what will truly benefit them the most. If, after you get to know them, you pitch them something that they don’t need or that isn’t aligned with where they are now or where they want to be, the offer will seem off-putting, and the potential client will likely decline.
Sometimes, though, it’s about the language you use. You want use “active listening” to reverberate the language your potential clients has already used in your explanation of your products and services.
I think of it like this… (Real Life Example) When my partner and I first got together, we would have so many arguments over the way he phrased something (and his tone, but that’s a whole other thing). We could be saying the exact same thing, but he used words that were, well, not the words I would’ve used and often had a negative connotation.
In addition, it’s important to continuously do market research. You can easily do this by asking potential and past clients to fill out a questionnaire; analyze your potential clients’ needs, wants, interests, and insecurities through their social media content; and/or see what people in your niche are searching for with sites like Answer The Public.
Some more real life examples:
At the salon, the customers were actually talking to each other about what they wanted, but no one was listening. We wanted to have someone greet us and acknowledge that we were on the list. We also wanted to know what the wait time was and have someone to answer any questions we might have. But they didn’t seem to be listening.
I was on a group call with some colleagues. One of the women there explained that she had been in a business program before where she continuously asked for assistance in a particular area but was told that her feelings around the situation were invalid and she just needed to push through. Not only did this mean that my colleague didn’t get the assistance she needed, it meant that she became skeptical about business coaching in general. She has since worked through this, but she shouldn’t have even had that experience because the previous program facilitators should have listened to her concerns and properly addressed them.
Many course creators have explained that they had previously created full courses or programs and tried selling them but were met with only crickets. And this was because they assumed they knew what their clients wanted. However, their clients wanted something totally different (or partially different). They had to go back to the drawing board, do some market research, and develop something new. But if they would’ve done the market research first, they could have saved themselves alot of time and money.
As I mentioned, sometimes it’s the language we use. After making some tweaks to the words I used in my own posts, I began getting more inquires about my business and engagement in general. Sometimes, it really is as simple as changing a few words here or there.
If you need help crafting your messaging, doing market research, and/or finding out who your soul-aligned clients are, check out my course, Nail Down Your Niche.
Need additional assistance with your business?
Whether you’re just starting out in your spiritual business or you’ve been at it for a while, there are always ways we can improve our marketing and business efforts and feel more aligned.
In my signature program, Building Businesses That Wow: The Experience, I take you on a journey to SPIRIT (Self-awareness, Purpose, Intuitive confidence, Roots, Ingenuity, and Transcend).
Within this program, you’ll not only begin making the kind of money you’ve dreamed of, but you’ll also have the mindset and systems in place to continue to grow and scale.
