Large businesses have a natural advantage over small businesses when it comes to putting forth the resources and sales necessary to bring in customers and keep them.

But as a small business owner, there are steps that you can take to overcome the limitations of your budget and instead, take advantage of traditional customer service limitations and attract customers based on your dedication to exceptional service.

Common Limitations Faced by Small Businesses

At first, you might hesitate and believe that you don’t need additional customer service efforts to make a difference for your customers. But with just some improvement, you can help your business stand out amongst larger competitors and attract loyal customers that will come back to you repeatedly.

1. Unavailable – If customers find that you’re generally unavailable, they won’t trust your business or you. This means that you should make it simple to locate your email address, telephone number, and any other additional information. Better yet, create an easy-to-use contact form to make it even easier for customers to contact you when you need it

2. Slow Response – Each and every customer that contacts you deserves a response, even if they just want to provide their feedback or a comment regarding the products or services they’ve received. Even a simple email is enough to make customers feel as if you care. Automate the process and you can make it even simpler to ensure that you have time for each of your customers.

3. Lack of Real-Time Conversations – Sometimes, small businesses don’t want to delegate time for staff members to answer phone calls. However, these real-time interactions shouldn’t be underestimated, especially because customers don’t want to call your business and get an answering machine. If you genuinely don’t have time to waste on the phone, hire an answering service to handle all of your calls and then respond as you deem appropriate. This will save you time and allow your staff to focus your efforts elsewhere.

4. Untrained Staff – Customer service is going to be something that each of your staff members provide. As a result, it’s important to ensure that every team member is properly trained in customer service etiquette to provide a consistent experience for each customer.

5. Lack of Feedback – Feedback is integral to growing your business. All too often, companies don’t request feedback, which makes it impossible to grow in a direction that aligns with what your customers expect or want. Whenever possible, encourage feedback from customers via email or telephone after their orders. Doing so will help your business improve and help eliminate issues that could be plaguing your business.

By acknowledging the limitations faced by most small businesses, you can help distinguish yours. And, by making yourself available, responding quickly, taking advantage of telephone conversations, training your staff, and encouraging feedback, your small business customer service can avoid the common failures and turn them into reasons for success.