When Your Customers Are Smiling,
Your Business Is Succeeding
Are your customers happy? They need to be if you want your business to maintain high levels of profit. When customers are unhappy, they don’t just sit back and take it. Instead, they go off in search of a business that can provide them with what they need. Rest assured, if your prices get too high, or quality falters, you will lose customers. That’s why it’s vital that you keep a check on customer satisfaction levels. You need to keep the people who buy from you loyal to ensure stability for your business. The question you need to ask is what makes customers happy and how can you achieve it.
Up To Date And In The Loop
It’s a modern idea, but it’s something you need to pay attention to. Customers are no longer settling for the ‘wait and see’ model of getting a service from a business. What this means is that they don’t want to hear anything like ‘check back later’ from your company. They want constant updates and to know exactly where they stand. If there’s a problem in your company, you need to let your customers know. It’s better to make them aware of the issues, rather than to let them find out from another source.
A brilliant example of this would be a security threat in your company. We’ve seen a lot of these over the years. Most recently, millions of Yahoo accounts were exposed after a security breach. Other businesses, like Yahoo, have left customers in the dark while they tried to resolve the situation. This strategy often has a negative impact, particularly when customer accounts are affected. You’ll have difficulty getting customers to trust you afterward if this happens.
Customers want more than just doom and gloom in updates though. They also want information on when products they ordered are going to arrive. Or when an item will be dispatched. Amazon has regularly received complaints in the past because they have not provided any tracking information. If you’re running a business, make sure that you know how to track your products in the field. You can do this with GPS fleet tracking software. Or, if you’re outsourcing, make sure the company you use has access to this type of technology.
Turn Those Frowns Upside Down
Customer opinions can result in the death of a company, particularly online. Today, many people are relying on customer reviews when deciding to buy from a business. That’s why you need to keep a constant check on your reviews. If they’re negative, you’ll need and want to provide answers to those unhappy consumers. You can’t just ignore their complaints. Instead, you must show that you can resolve the situation for them. It’s all about turning a negative review into one that’s positive. You don’t need to respond to all the negative reviews.
Focus on complaints where a specific grievance has been issued. It will be easier to appear amicable in this type of situation. You should also learn from any complaints or bad reviews you receive. Use the information provided to improve your business and deliver a better service next time.
Employees Who Go The Extra Mile
If you want the best way to make your customers happy, you just need to hire the best employees. Don’t forget; it’s your employees who will be interacting with them, not you. Your employees are the ones who shape the perception of your business. If they deliver a fantastic service, then customers are going to be happy. But, if employees are rude and abrasive, you can guarantee complaints will come flooding in. Part of this has to do with training. You need to ensure employees understand exactly what you want from them. You can’t assume that they should already know how to handle customers, particularly employees who are working further down in unskilled jobs throughout your business model. They could still have interactions with customers that shape perception.
Checking In
Lastly, you can encourage customer feedback by including automatic surveys in your service model. It’s easy to do this if you work online or through eCommerce phone calls. Just include a survey at the end of the call or the service. Make sure you offer some form of reward for customers to encourage them to take part. This will provide you clear data of what’s working and what might have room for improvement.
