As a mum working from home, there are a number of perks which you just wouldn’t get when working on site for an employer. Obviously, you can set your own hours and are free to take on work you want while setting limits on how much you are willing to take on. You don’t have that luxury when you are not the boss and then there are the kids to think of. Most mums choose to work from home because they have little people; they either don’t want nursery care or the cost of hiring a sitter/nanny is just too high.
For whatever reason, you are a work-from-home mum with your own company and here is where you might hit some snags you wouldn’t encounter when working for a well-established company. One of the biggest issues you might encounter is in just how to onboard your new customers. Let’s take a look at how those companies you’ve worked handle customer onboarding.
It Is Critical to Understand Customer Expectations
According to an article on the Forbes website, a company’s customer service can be their ultimate downfall if they don’t have a clear-cut strategy that meets customer expectations. Therefore, when onboarding new customers, it is essential to take as much time as you need to understand what your market, your audience, is looking for. Once you understand what that is, you can begin developing your onboarding strategy.
Establish a Platform for Communications
The above-mentioned article goes on to say that communications rank highly in consumer survey after survey. Whether a customer has a complaint or simply has a question, they don’t take kindly to waiting inordinately long periods of time to speak with someone in customer care or in the tech department. When onboarding new customers, this post from Sendinblue suggests that ongoing email communications can be important on several levels.
Not only will you keep your business on the tip of their tongue (remember the old out of sight out of mind cliché?) but it will also serve to anticipate many of the questions they may have. Sending out a quick “Thank You” email to each and every new customer goes a very long way in encouraging repeat business. That one email shows them that their business matters.
Review Your Strategy Regularly for Results
Keeping in mind that your onboarding strategy is designed to build a solid customer base; it is essential to collect and gather data. Altogether too many new businesses focus on capturing new customers but the co-founder of Presto, Monika Jain, prioritises keeping customers happy. The article in Entrepreneur goes on to say that repeat business is the lifeblood of any company. Not only does it cost too much in terms of time and energy to capture every new customer, but unless they return, your business will remain on the status quo.
As a mum working from home, a home-based entrepreneur, it is imperative that you understand just how important onboarding really is in building a successful business. Take the time to understand just what customers want and then build a strategy to stay in touch with them. Your key takeaway should be that onboarding is just the beginning of a long and healthy relationship. That’s the key to growth.