No matter whether it’s terrible, fantastic, or flat-out phony, customer service is something that we encounter every single day. Understandably, this crucial component can make or break a small business. By understanding and catering to our clients’ needs with our trademark customer service, we provide and maintain the bonds that generate loyalty and repeat business with our many clients.
At Light-Works, ensuring that our customers are happy and well-taken care of is of paramount importance. It’s understood that long-term customers have a value of up to 10 times as much as their first purchase.
But more importantly, our ethos at Light-Works is to treat all of our customers like a part of our community.
How do our clients feel when they experience real customer service like ours? The dedication to our clients is reflected in our longstanding work with them. This is absolutely the case with our nearly 40-year relationship with Ben & Jerry’s – from the printing of the original portrait for pint lids to all of their North American Scoop Shop signage.
Customer Service Built Our Business
Did you know that twice as many people hear about negative customer experiences than positive ones? We quickly realized that, in the large format printing world, any new, cool, or valuable developments meant nothing if we couldn’t provide the best service possible.
When I founded Light-Works in the late 1970s, the company definitely didn’t have a marketing or advertising budget. Within only a few years, however, the business grew. It grew thanks to word-of-mouth of satisfied customers, and because of our dedication that ensured their custom printing projects exceeded their expectations.
We quickly understood that word-of-mouth was a vital mode of communication for our business because of its authenticity. This almost prehistoric social network has, in fact, been the basis of many of our client introductions! And four decades later, we’re still here as one of the top large format digital printing companies!
Our close contact and deep understanding of their ongoing needs kept our business relationship solid and secure for decades. And through our work, we came to understand the needs of each customer.
Each Venture Is a Passion Project
In northern New England, we’re a nucleus of the local photography network. We wake up every morning, knowing that at Light-Works, we’ll be surrounded by people who have a shared passion for art, design and photography.
The businesses and artists who come to us with wild, brilliant ideas sit down with our Light-Works staff
to develop remarkable and innovative new projects. Whether we print on glass, aluminum, or magnetic materials, our focus incorporates the latest in sustainable printing methods.
We believe that this shared passion not only fuels our ambitions to assist other like-minded, creative people, but it also provides us a unique perspective on how to treat our customers.
We have always known that Light-Works was something truly special, and by serving customers with understanding and empathy, we’d get them to return. It wasn’t enough that our products met their expectations: we had to surpass and maintain them.
What’s more, our clients have come to rely upon our team. Penilee (our Manager of Operations) has been with us for 32 years. Our Master Printer, Sharon, came to us in 1991. Rob, our Finishing and Fabrication Specialist, has been on our team since 1990.
Know When to Say When
As a business owner, there’s always something new to discover. A big learning moment was when I finally admitted that it just wasn’t possible to satisfy every need for every customer. It’s okay to be human, and admit when you aren’t a great fit for a client. Through our early mishaps, we learned so much, discovering what kind of customer we wanted to target and work with and would find value in our culture.
Though it may take a few years to pinpoint, determining your ideal customer personas creates better, more purposeful work. Light-Works understands our customers’ needs and desires, and our shared passion reinforces the quality of work we provide to each client, every single time.
We believe in the art and vision of our customers, and – forty years later – I think that we’re some of the luckiest people in our industry.