If you want to run a successful business, you absolutely must offer a high level of customer service. After all, if your customers are not satisfied, not only are they not going to come back and make additional purchases, but they certainly aren’t going to recommend your company to friends and family, and they may even take to the internet to put others off from using your business too.
With that in mind, here are some fairly simple things you can do to ensure customer satisfaction is guaranteed:
Listen to your customers
One of the cornerstones of customer satisfaction is listening. If you don’t listen to your customers, you won’t know what they want, and you won’t be able to meet their needs. You also won’t be aware of the things you are doing right and what you’re getting wrong, which means you won’t be offering a valuable service. That’s why you absolutely must make it possible for customers to give you feedback.
You can solicit feedback by sending out customer surveys, making it possible for clients to rate and review on your website, and even by calling them to ask for their opinions, amongst other things. Of course, none of this guarantees a response, so you might want to think about offering vouchers or other incentives to get your customers to speak to you.
Oh, and listening in and of itself isn’t enough — you have to actually take in what your customers are saying and implement changes to your business as a result if you want to develop your business and build a trusted brand.
Respond quickly
Numerous studies have shown that businesses that respond quickly are likely to satisfy customers more than those who don’t. So, whether it’s answering the phones, responding to emails or setting up an important meeting, the sooner you and your employees can get to it, the better the view of your brand will be, and more importantly, the happier your customers will be.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep
One of the biggest mistakes any business can make is to promise their customers things they cannot deliver. For example, if you say you’ll have an agent with them at 9am, but they’re still waiting for someone to show up at 3pm — something field service management tools can help you avoid — they are unlikely to be impressed, or if you say that their package will arrive on Monday but it doesn’t reach them until Wednesday, they won’t be satisfied, and it won’t reflect well on you. It’s far better to be honest and even underestimate your abilities than it is to oversell them. After all, no one is going to be annoyed if their package reaches them a day earlier, but they will be mad if it takes far longer.
Be human
Right now, it is possible to automate so many of the processes our businesses require to keep running, and there is nothing wrong with using them when they make savings and increase productivity levels. However, it is important to remember that clients don’t want to talk to robots — they want to speak to humans. That’s not to say you can’t use chatbots and the like, but if you do, then try to do whatever you can to add some personalization into the process. Speak like a human, modify templates so that they include more warmth, and make it feel as close to a real interaction as possible. Of course, if you can afford it, using real staff for your customer service would be even better.
Look after your employees
Your employees are often your customers’ first point of contact with your business, so they really do have the ability to make or break your brand’s image and define how satisfied (or not) your clients are. That’s why you should always treat them well.
Think about it: employees who are demoralized, underpaid and overworked, shouted at, and basically just unhappy at work, are hardly going to go above and beyond to provide amazing customer service to the customers they serve. So, be sure to do whatever you can to make them happy, show them respect, and create a friendly working environment. It will work wonders not only for your customer satisfaction levels but also for your productivity and staff retention levels too.
Train your employees
If you give your employees a high level of training, they will know everything there is to know about your products and services, which means that they will be able to very quickly and simply explain things to your customers or answer any questions they may have. This will ensure that interactions run smoothly and customer frustrations are kept to a minimum.
Put them first
Most businesses experience problems such as faulty stock from time to time and most customers understand that. What they do not understand is businesses that blame their issues on the customer.
It is really bad form, for example, to imply that your customer is responsible for a malfunctioning product, even if you suspect that may be the case. Sure, you may be able to avoid paying them a refund, but you’ll also lose their further business, and if they leave you a bad review, the potential business of many others too. No, when there is a problem it’s far better to take the view that the customer is always right and go the extra mile to help them out. They’ll be happy, any reviews they leave will be positive, and your business will benefit as a result.
Create amazing content
In the 21st Century, we are all online and we are all looking for high-quality content that educates, entertains, and informs us. As a business, you can use this to your advantage by creating and posting high-quality content that adds real value to the lives of your customers. Content that answers questions, solves problems, and gives special offers to your customers will go a long way to making them happy. It will also help to boost your profile and set you and your company up as experts in the field. What’s not to love?
If you aren’t able to create high-quality content yourself, there are literally thousands of qualified freelancers out there who can do it for you. Hire them and you’ll be able to build up a loyal following in almost no time at all.
Stay organized
It’s hard to run a successful business and keep your customers satisfied if you aren’t extremely well organized. Disorganized companies forget to send out orders in a timely manner, miss important phone calls, promise more than they can deliver, and … well you get the idea! Luckily, there are so many software packages available that can help you keep track of everything from your stock inventory to your customer loyalty points, so that you never have to run the risk of disappointing your customers again. Best of all — many of them are completely automated, so once you set them up, they’ll continue to run smoothly in the background.
Measure everything
If you’re serious about keeping your customers as happy as they can possibly be, then you cannot afford not to measure your data. Metrics are the key to not only seeing what your customers do and what they need, but also to determining how happy they are with the services you offer. So, create your own customer satisfaction tools. Track your retention rates, and LOOK at the data regularly. It is only by analyzing the data that you can work out what you’re doing right and where you could improve. The metrics will tell you everything you need to know.
Look after them
Looking after your customers well is a sure-fire way to make them happy and encourage them to come back and spend more money with your company. How do you make them happy? By showing them how much you value them. You can do this by creating a loyalty program so they can earn points and save money on future purchases. Email them money-off codes or even allow them early access to exclusive products. You’ll need to work out what your clients will like — but one thing’s for sure, if you want to keep them happy, you will need to offer them something to show them how much they are valued.
The bottom line
There are a lot more factors in providing customer satisfaction than you may have thought. However, most of these measures are fairly simple to implement into the average business. The main thing is that you try. Sit down and take a critical look at your business to see what you are currently doing right and what you could be doing better. Then, make the changes one by one until you are offering a level of customer service you can be proud of. Your customers will love you for it, and you should start to see not only an increase in repeat customers but an influx of new ones too.
