Tax season is upon us, and if you own a small business you’ll have to take care of filing taxes for your business this year. The good news is you still have a month to file them. But did you know, filing your taxes early can affect your customer service?
When you don’t file taxes on time, customers are inadvertently subjected to delays on every front whether it is billing, shipping, order confirmations, and order updates, which can affect the quality of customer service. To prevent any kind of displeasure for your customers is a necessity to survive in the competitive market. Here are a few reasons why filing taxes on time assists you in delivering a superior customer service.
1. Leaves more time for customers
Leaving everything to the last minute creates chaos, so you end up spending more time than usual trying to get your work done. Last-minute filings are also more prone to errors, which increases the likelihood of you having to revise the returns, leading to further waste of time. The timely filing gives you spare time for innovation, engagement with customers on social media, building a relationship with customers, obtaining customer feedback, and handling customer complaints.
2. Saves money for other business functions
Late filing attracts penalties. If you file taxes on time, you not only avoid fines but can also take better advantage of tax benefits. Every bit of money saved is helpful when you run a small business where margins are thin. The money saved can be put to constructive purposes. You could use the money to fuel your marketing campaigns and hire staff to create valuable content in the form of articles, how-to videos, and infographics to educate your customers on your business.
You could also use the money for affordable small business phone answering services and live chat service to take your customer service to the next level. An answering service, or a Virtual Receptionist Service, allows professional and friendly receptionists to receive customer calls on behalf of your company. This round-the-clock service can be used to answer FAQs, take messages from customers, and address customer queries even after office hours. Live chat services function on similar lines where customers can conveniently chat with your employees.
3. Keeps your staff at ease
Filing taxes on time minimizes stress for your employees and improves their productivity. An employee working for your small business undertakes multiple responsibilities and dealing with customers is most likely one of them. Burdening the employees with last-minute paperwork related to tax returns, correspondence with accountants and banks, along with the constant pressure of answering customer calls can take a toll on employees’ physical and mental wellbeing.
To avoid this unnecessary overload on employees, file your taxes on time or even early. Stress-free employees are more productive and capable of serving customers wholeheartedly. If you have a disgruntled employee, they may take out their anger on your customer, thereby damaging the reputation of your company. It could potentially end up costing you a customer permanently.
Delight Your Customers with Excellent Service Year Round
In order to better serve your customers, schedule your date of filing taxes well in advance of Tax Day. The time you save, the money you reallocate for your business and the stress you relieve from your employees outweighs the headache of getting your taxes done.
American author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss rightly quoted, “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” File your taxes early and refocus your business on what is really important: exceptional customer service.
