The human mind is powerful – and as a business owner, there are some psychological tricks you can use to improve your business. In this article, weโll share customer service tips and mental techniques that will keep you focused on improvement. Read on to learn more!
1. Show Concern and Defuse Complaints
The first psychological tip has to do with customer service. According to Microsoft, providing exceptional customer service is extremely important, as itโs the determining factor in whether to do business with a company for most people (90%).
For a business owner, customer complaints can be hard to take. Youโre personally invested in your company, and youโve either built it from the ground up or worked to improve it. It can be tough to take negative feedback, especially when it seems that the customer is just being mean and disrespectful, with nothing constructive to say.
Showing concern for their well-being and putting the ball in their court is sometimes all it takes to defuse a difficult situation. Make the client feel like youโre on their team and empathize with their frustrations. Thank them for their patience and remain calm. Spot potential issues before they happen and work to ensure the situation is resolved as quickly as possible.
These tricks will humanize you in the mind of your client. In most situations, theyโll start to calm down and feel like theyโre being heard. Their problem will be solved and youโll retain a client you would have otherwise lost.
2. Enjoy the Journey, Not the Goal
A good trick for many business owners is to look at the journey as its own reward rather than expecting an external affirmation. Another way to say it is to focus on the learning process rather than an outward reward. A hunger to learn more about your business, improve your methods, and create a better place for clients and employees will get you much further than numbers-based goals.
Goals are great – but how do you feel when you fall short of them? You probably feel pretty lousy, and it can be discouraging. And if you meet the goal – great – but after you meet it, youโre not likely to try much harder in that area. You can stagnate rather than continue to grow.
Goals arenโt a bad thing, but they should be in their proper place. The journey isnโt a means to an end – itโs the entire adventure. Even when you donโt meet your goals, you should be able to come up with examples of how youโve grown. Tout those successes as hard as you tout your monetary or number-based goals.
3. Focus on Your Customers Instead of Self
As we touched on earlier, the future is all about customer service. You canโt go around talking about how great your business is and forget that your customers are people. Every business should be adept at identifying and meeting the needs of its customers.
In doing so, you draw your target audience to you and they become your biggest fans. Learning to talk like them, think like them, and offer products or services that resolve their problems is a great way to improve your business along with your online presence.
4. Regulate Your Emotions Before You Respond
Our human nature is impulsive – thatโs why they keep the candy bars by the checkout counter, right? But if you want to be successful in business, you have to learn to regulate your emotions before you respond.
This is good practice across the board: whether youโre being offered a new business opportunity that youโre very excited about or you experienced a significant loss in your company. That new business opportunity looks great – but what does the contract say? Is there anything theyโre not telling you? Your due diligence is important in this matter, so you should definitely conduct some research and ask appropriate questions before you take the leap.
Business losses are tough. Maybe youโre just starting out and you realize that you bought a large quantity of unusable or damaged products. Itโs disheartening – but youโve got to remind yourself that this isnโt the end of the world. Do the next right thing.
Regulating your emotions is also an important first step in dealing with customer complaints. Weโre so close to our business that a complaint against it can feel like our children are being insulted. Take some deep breaths and give yourself time before you respond.
5. Expect to Be Comfortable in Every Situation
Anxiety is a huge obstacle to overcome for anyone, but it can be especially difficult in a business context. Perhaps youโre about to have a meeting with the CEO of a company whoโs interested in acquiring your company. Sheโs got 3,000 employees and you barely broke 300. Just thinking about the interview has your heart racing.
Take some time to assume comfort. Itโs the old trick of picturing everyone in their underwear, although it neednโt come to that. Instead, imagine youโre talking with your sister or a friend who you feel really comfortable with. By imagining that youโre in a comfortable situation, you can mitigate the stress response of your body and feel more confident.
We hope youโve enjoyed the psychological business tips weโve explored here, but they wonโt be of much use if you donโt have an established online presence. If youโd like to use an award-winning business to design your company website, thatโs what weโre here for. Request a quote today to learn more!
