Customer Service Is Becoming Part of the Small Business Sales and Marketing Engine

For Customer Service Week, 5-9 October, Thryv is urging small businesses to look beyond generating  enquiries and examine what happens after a customer makes contact, with service increasingly  influencing conversion, repeat business and reputation.

Thryv Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: THRY), provider of Thryv® the AI-powered global growth platform for  small businesses, is urging small businesses across Australia and New Zealand to use Customer  Service Week to consider customer service through a growth lens, recognising that the experience  delivered after a customer discovers a business can influence whether they buy, return and  recommend it to others. 

Thryv’s 2025 Business Index and Consumer Report found 69 per cent of consumers across Australia  and New Zealand rank customer service as a leading factor influencing repeat purchases. Friendly  and responsive communication is also one of the strongest trust builders, cited by 63 per cent of  Australian consumers and 68 per cent of New Zealand consumers. 

According to Elise Balsillie, Head of Thryv Australia and New Zealand, businesses can invest  considerable effort attracting customers, however the experience that follows can determine how  much value is created from that opportunity. 

“Marketing may generate the enquiry, however the speed of the response, the relevance of the  conversation, how easily someone can get a quote and whether the business follows through can all  influence what happens next,” Elise said.  

“Customer service increasingly sits alongside sales and marketing because every interaction can  move the relationship forward, strengthen trust and give the customer a reason to return.” 

Where opportunities can disappear 

An unanswered enquiry, delayed quote or missed follow-up may appear to be separate issues inside  a business, however to the customer they are part of one experience. Each can weaken the  momentum created by the marketing that brought the customer to the business and turn a  promising enquiry into an opportunity that quietly disappears. 

“The business may interpret somebody disappearing as a lost lead when the real issue occurred after  the lead arrived,” Elise said.  

“Generating more enquiries achieves very little if strong opportunities are already slipping away  because nobody can see that a response or next action is outstanding.” 

Thryv’s research also points to a gap between how businesses assess their service and how  customers experience it. In Australia, 45 per cent of small businesses completely agree they  consistently deliver high service compared with 25 per cent of consumers. In New Zealand, 49 per 

For more information or interviews, Diane Falzon, diane.falzon@thryv.com, 0430 596 699 

cent of small businesses completely agree they deliver consistently high service compared with 24  per cent of consumers. 

Make the next action visible 

A prospective customer may be waiting for a quote, an existing customer may have future work due  and another may have postponed a job rather than rejected it. Keeping those next steps visible helps  a business maintain momentum and gives customers greater confidence that their enquiry or  relationship has not been forgotten. 

“Good customer service gives both the customer and the business clarity about what happens next,”  Elise said.  

“That could mean responding sooner, following up a quote, scheduling future work or reconnecting  when there is a genuine reason to do so.” 

As businesses grow, maintaining that visibility can become harder when customer conversations are  spread across phone calls, email, social media, quoting tools, booking systems, job management  platforms and CRMs. The technology may differ from business to business, however the principle  remains the same: useful customer information and the next action need to remain visible as the  relationship progresses. 

“If a potential customer has already explained what they need, sent information or discussed a  quote, they should not feel as though the relationship starts again when they speak with somebody  else,” Elise said.  

“When that context travels with the customer, businesses can respond with greater relevance and  are less likely to lose opportunities between conversations.” 

Melbourne-based Heavy Lift Forklifts experienced this challenge as the family-owned business  expanded. Bringing customer messages and notifications together using Thryv gave the business  greater visibility across enquiries while helping its team manage communication, quotes, invoices  and customer information as workloads grew. 

For Auckland-based Crown Self Storage, the connection between attracting customers and  converting that interest into business has become increasingly visible. After strengthening its website  and online presence with Thryv, around 95 per cent of new clients now come through its website,  while the business has also begun using digital customer management tools to support areas such as  invoicing and tracking customer storage usage. 

Turn good service into future growth 

The value of strong service can continue after the first transaction. A satisfied customer may return  for future work, provide a review, recommend the business to someone else or respond when there  is a relevant reason to reconnect. 

“Businesses spend considerable energy finding their next customer, however there can be strong  growth potential among the customers who already know and trust them,” Elise said. 

For more information or interviews, Diane Falzon, diane.falzon@thryv.com, 0430 596 699 

“If a customer has purchased from you, asked for advice or discussed future work, there may be a  genuine reason to continue that conversation. The key is using what you know about the relationship  to make the follow-up useful rather than generic.” 

Customer service can also strengthen marketing by helping turn a positive experience into reputation  and advocacy. Reviews, recommendations and repeat business often begin with whether the  business kept its promises, communicated clearly and made the next step easy. 

For Customer Service Week, Elise said businesses should look at service as part of the full growth  journey, from first enquiry through to repeat business and referral. 

“Strong customer service helps businesses make more of the demand they have already created,”  Elise said.  

“It can turn an enquiry into a customer, a customer into repeat business and a positive experience  into the reason somebody else chooses you. When service, sales and marketing reinforce one  another, every customer interaction has greater potential to contribute to growth.”