We’re recently honored to be featured in Forbes – “How To Wow Your Customers With Excellent Service (Without A Face-To-Face Meeting)“. We appreciate the recognition. The article is a 3 minutes read and here is a preview of it.
Even before COVID-19 forced many businesses to shut their doors or limit in-person activities, we already lived in an increasingly digital world. A huge chunk of modern freelancers and solopreneurs do practically all of their business online. Some freelancers never even meet their clients in-person. Instead, everything is done through emails or phone calls.
While this makes work a lot more streamlined (who really wants to fly halfway across the country for a business meeting, anyway?), it can sometimes make it harder to truly “wow” your customers with your service….
Let’s take Get Started HK as an example. We converted the entire incorporation process from offline to online. In the past, customers had to sign and mail documents to Hong Kong. Since Covid-19, we use video call to verify information. All documents are signed digitally. Many customers are benefited from this online arrangement. No physical meeting is required, and the entire setup process has now been shortened from 2 weeks to 1 day.
As this example shows, an in-person, face-to-face contact isn’t the be-all end-all of delivering great customer service. Even if you’re never going to meet your clients in person, digital best practices can help you deliver. Below are more examples how you can improve customers’ experience under the Covid-19 pandemic.
Providing different means for Instant contact
If you cannot move your service or production online, you can consider to provide different means for instant contact. For example, you can provide your customers with your personal WhatsApp numbers if a face to face meeting is not possible. This is a way to build trust and increase interactions.
Moreover, Skype or Facebook Chat are some other channels for communication. Without face to face meeting, customers may want to know that you are a real person and he is being treated importantly. If you have concern with privacy, you can prepare a work phone and create a new WhatsApp account for this purpose. Bear in mind – the more helpful you are, the more likely your customer will place an order with you.
Youtube (Live broadcast) or Virtual showroom
Considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, postage or shipping might be delayed from time to time. If your customers want to see a sample of your product, you can make use of Youtube Live broadcast or VR technology so others can actually see or feel your products. I want to emphasise it is important to do this on a LIVE channel because that is the key to increase interactions. Your customers can ask questions immediately and publicly. At the same time, you can reply instantly during the broadcast. If you want to wow customers without a face to face meeting, your company must create opportunities for interactions. Interactions is always the key to success.
Prepare a Contingency Plan
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, shipping might be delayed during this difficult time. If we want to “WOW” our customers, we must prepare a contingency plan. For example, while there were limited supply of face mask in Hong Kong, health care companies in Hong Kong started to source products and materials from different countries immediately. They sources from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Germany, etc. If you rely on one particular source, you are risking your company’s reputation. If a specific product is not available, you cannot sit and wait. You should ask your customers whether they will accept other products with similar quality and functions. It is important to conduct a comprehensive research and look for alternatives. To wow your customers, you must keep service quality as usual (punctually and precisely) without delay or mistake.
Thank you for reading. I hope this article gives you some new ideas. If you are interested in company formation in Hong Kong, you can contact our incorporation team at info@getstarted.hk The incorporation process can be completed as fast as 1 business day. Setting up a Hong Kong Company has never been this easy
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