Close Menu
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing & Mental Health
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
Trending
  • Return fraud: what it is and how online retailers can protect themselves
  • UK Small Businesses Reveal Top 10 Strategies Driving Sustainable Growth
  • OneMetric forms strategic partnership with RevOps expert to drive UK growth
  • FX Brokers Pocketing Nearly £1,000 Per Transaction From SMEs, New Data Shows
  • The Seven Phases of Festive Shopping and How to Target within Each Effectively
  • Traditional banks are letting SMEs down – It’s time for alternative finance to step up
  • Law Firms – Are You Ready for Private Equity?
  • Why one simple metric can’t capture productivity
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
You are at:Home»Features»Top 5 tips to improve customer engagement
Luke Smoothy, Founder and Director of London-based manufacturing partner Get It Made, urges companies to put customer service at the heart of their business strategy to get it right

Top 5 tips to improve customer engagement

0
Posted By sme-admin on May 23, 2023 Features

Ongoing supply chain issues have placed further stress on supplier-customer relationships, at a crucial time when businesses face mounting challenges in a shaky economic climate. 

Luke Smoothy, Founder and Director of London-based manufacturing partner Get It Made, urges Luke Smoothy -founder Get Int Madecompanies to put customer service at the heart of their business strategy to get it right

While many SMEs are working hard to stay afloat in an era of ‘sink or swim’, going back to the drawing board and adapting a more customer service-oriented approach might not be top priority as supply chains remain fractured, but this might be part of the problem. This is compounded by the fact that emerging changes and trends in customer behaviours are being driven by the events of the past few years, so that customers now demand more.

However, businesses can slowly gain back control, through a much-needed real shift in business strategy that puts the customer service first, for both products and services. More than that, it could well be a golden opportunity to focus on this key area which is often erroneously forgotten, at worst woefully neglected.

Here are five simple tips how businesses can make that change to benefit both customers and businesses alike:

  1. Be mindful

This isn’t some zen philosophy, but rather just plain common sense. Embracing a more customer-centric approach might sound obvious and a no-brainer, but it is surprising just how many businesses, particularly while trying to fight for survival and develop an ‘all hands on deck’ mindset, have lost sight of this – unintentionality or otherwise. Manufacturing is no different; it’s an industry where customer engagement must no longer be viewed as a value add-on but a necessity. Ultimately, delivering personalised service does help manufacturing companies increase customer retention and win new business. This is backed by findings which reveal 52% of manufacturing executives find it increasingly difficult to compete based on product quality alone, while a huge 86% believe that customer service can now be a key differentiator.

  1. Embrace micro-automation

In order to truly scale and grow a business, companies need to increase revenue without scaling costs. How? One way is through the use of micro-automation. Rather than expending thousands of pounds on custom software systems, SMEs can use the power of the No Code Movement and automate repetitive tasks using tools such as Zapier. Tools such as this can be deployed faster, at lower cost and using non-invasive methods to deliver greater efficiencies. This has replaced the need for more employees which eats into profits. Micro-automations are one reason why Get It Made has been able to grow to be a multi-million-pound business, whilst only hiring three additional staff.

  1. Adopt a lean mentality

By developing a ‘lean mentality’ throughout a business, owners and decision makers must identify what activities Business Customer Service Support Knowledgeand resources add value to customers and what do not. Then they must look to eliminate non-value adding activities whilst boosting value-add activities. What features of their product or service do customers respond well to? What do they not care about? This insight can then be used to harness a mentality that focuses on offering excellent, responsive customer service, offering the right information, at the right time.

  1. Harness Manufacturing as a Service

Manufacturers can sometimes forget that they’re also service companies. The current supply chain disruption calls out for an alignment and the removal of friction, making sure projects run smoothly from quotation to delivery of parts. Manufacturing as a Service as a one-stop solution must now be a critical part of the manufacturing process, and at the forefront of every manufacturing business’ mind so it can encourage efficiency and better build customer relationships. It may sound clichéd, but it’s a fundamental element being perilously overlooked in the supply chain.

  1. Understand the rule of 1s and 3s

One simple principle that will help SMEs to develop a long-term business strategy is the rule of 1s and 3s. Simply put, companies need to reinvent their external and internal processes for milestones of 3 and 10. For example, when a customer base expands from 10 customers to 30 customers, SMEs will likely need to change the way they interact with their customers. Similarly, when 30 customers become 100 customers, again businesses need to reinvent their operations. However, successful companies don’t attempt to make these changes overnight, rather they continually work towards the next milestone as part of a long-term strategy.

https://get-it-made.co.uk/

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Return fraud: what it is and how online retailers can protect themselves

UK Small Businesses Reveal Top 10 Strategies Driving Sustainable Growth

Why one simple metric can’t capture productivity

Comments are closed.

Follow SME Today on Linkedin and share all the topics you find interesting

The Newsletter

Join our mailing list for the best SME stories, handpicked and delivered direct to your inbox every two weeks!

Sign Up
Personal Pension offer
Events Calendar
    • Marketing
    August 29, 2025

    OneMetric forms strategic partnership with RevOps expert to drive UK growth

    August 28, 2025

    The Seven Phases of Festive Shopping and How to Target within Each Effectively

    • Finance
    August 29, 2025

    Return fraud: what it is and how online retailers can protect themselves

    August 28, 2025

    FX Brokers Pocketing Nearly £1,000 Per Transaction From SMEs, New Data Shows

    • People
    August 14, 2025

    A Life Worth Saving – A Tribute to Dame Stephanie Shirley CH, 1933–2025

    August 12, 2025

    Finance Director Returns As Judge For National Business Awards

    • Health & Safety
    July 1, 2025

    Temperatures Soaring: Is Your Workplace Becoming Unsafe?

    January 29, 2025

    UK takeaways guilty of shocking hygiene failures:

    • Events
    July 22, 2025

    South West Expo Delivers Outstanding Event at Swindon’s STEAM Museum

    July 4, 2025

    £20k grant for female-founded SME up for grabs

    • Community
    July 11, 2025

    Building community, one cause at a time

    June 23, 2025

    Celebrating One Year In Fairford Supporting The Community

    • Food & Drink
    August 22, 2025

    How to get stocked by major retailers as an SME

    July 18, 2025

    Warning to Small Businesses Over New Food Waste Regulations

    • Books
    August 7, 2025

    Learning to Leave a Legacy in Business

    April 24, 2025

    Values-Driven Professionalism: A Path to Client Loyalty

    About

    SME Today is published by the same team who deliver The Great British Expos’. We have been organising various corporate events for the last 10 years, with a strong track record of producing well managed and attended business events across the UK.

    Join Our Mailing List

    Receive the latest news and updates from SMEToday.
    Read our Latest Newsletter:


    Sign Up
    X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    Categories
    • Books
    • Community & Charity
    • Education and Training
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Features
    • Finance
    • Food and Drink
    • Health & Safety
    • HR & Recruitment
    • In Profile
    • Legal
    • Marketing
    • News
    • People
    • Property & Development
    • Sponsored Content
    • Technology
    • Transport & Tourism
    • Wellbeing & Mental Health
    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Editorial Submission Guidelines
    • Privacy
    • Contact
    Copyright © 2025 SME Today.
    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Editorial Submission Guidelines
    • Privacy
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.