Let’s face it, establishing trust is the key to success for most small service businesses. As a locksmith business professional, however, you deal with providing services that at the core, are essential for the security and safety of customers.
Whether you run a commercial, residential, automotive locksmith business, or all of the above, ensure your business is up-to-date with the latest technologies and small business practices. As a locksmith business, you know the times a customer tries to reach you can be fairly unpredictable. You might find that if you don’t respond on time, your customer might get frustrated and worse, seek services elsewhere.
When your customers call you for a service, they are oftentimes, at their most vulnerable. They hire you to protect their most valuable assets: their families, their home, and their belongings. This is why providing a trustworthy and transparent process for your customers is crucial. In order to do so, you'll need to use the best chat app for small businesses to be set up for success and gain the trust of your customers along the way:
Do you use an automated chatbot on your website to answer your customers’ questions or help them book an appointment?
If your answer is yes, think about the different ways your customers interact with the chatbot. Is it doing its job or do you find that most customers find it to be cold, confusing, or unhelpful? You might have to rethink your communication strategy, which means either going the old-fashioned route in hiring staff to answer the phone or considering a new customer support strategy altogether.
Chatbots are getting more intuitive and “smart” through artificial intelligence and natural language processing. This means small business owners don’t necessarily need IT experience or to pay a technician significant costs to help them set up their technology. The result is a chatbot for small businesses that reflects a human-like interaction as it learns through everyday interactions with your customers.
Most importantly, your customers want to connect with a business, not a robot. Look for a chatbot software that not only gets the job done but reflects a more human experience. The key to establishing trust with your customers is to provide human interaction that anticipates needs and understands their pain points. Here's how a chatbot can offer your customers the support they expect:
Whether you’re managing several employees out on the field or running your business as a one-man/woman show, ensure you are there for your customers when they need you the most. Being readily available to address your customer’s pain points and needs is a must.
Your customers call you for multiple reasons, but one commonality they face might often be frustration. They did not plan on being locked out of their home. They are most likely frustrated about being locked out of their home or even worried about preventing break-ins after hearing about a robbery from a neighbor.
In such times of need, make sure that you're within reach. Look for the best chat apps for your locksmith small business for your customers can easily connect with you and also get instant responses to all their queries.
Let your customers know you care and you understand you will be there when needed most will resonate with them and in turn, boost recommendations of your service to their neighbors.
You try your hardest to provide a trustworthy and easy process for your customers, but how do you ensure the process is effective and who is helping you? Providing a great experience from beginning to end will help the customers remember your service and establish your credibility as a leader in the industry. The first touchpoint is always a good place to start.
Ideally, you could hire an administrative assistant to help make suggestions for your customers, answer any questions over the phone or via email. However, your employees will eventually need a break and won’t be around to help 24/7.
The next step would be to consider a technology to help you manage your customer engagement processes. One of the most cost-effective way is to integrate chat functionality on your website to manage the inflow of queries.
As a locksmith, you will interact with a variety of personalities and unique situations. Understand that your order of go and how you solve a problem for each client might be different every time.
It’s easy to get into a habit of completely standardizing processes. Listening and learning from each customer experience will help you improve your processes in the future. Listening to your customers also comes with the need to explain your jargon to make them feel comfortable and secure.
When responding to an emergency call, you might find that when you pull up to the scene your client could be overwhelmed and stressed. Take the time to understand and listen to their concerns to get a handle on the situation. You need to listen to and understand what exactly the customer needs from you to provide the best service possible.
Consider hiring professionals who will best represent your businesses’ values and customer service. To effectively win over your customers and foster a loyal clientele, you will want to create a team that not only they can trust, but you can trust to represent your business in the highest regard.
The “key” to finding the right talent to represent your business for your business — no pun intended — is to educate them on your best practices, your brand identity, and your services.
Let’s face it, the majority of customer outreach nowadays stems from online marketing. Getting leads to visit the homepage of your website is one thing, but catching their attention and inviting them to engage is a beast in itself.
You’ll need to strategize how to create the most welcoming environment possible for these leads. Take pop-ups and chatbots, for example, you know, those little things at the bottom of your screen that pops up and ask you if you need any help? What many businesses don’t understand is that these “bots” should be treated just the same as their “human” employees.
To get these bots to function properly, more often than not, you’ll need to “train” them or program them to effectively answer visitors’ questions. This means the bot will also need to know all the intricacies of your business, like industry-related jargon and specific information about the services you have to offer.
From technology to the actual humans behind your business, remember your talent embodies your core values. Creating an atmosphere of trust and personable connection will encourage your clients to stick around and think of your service for their needs in the future.