Many would-be entrepreneurs believe that if they can only offer a great product or service, then their success will be assured. This is not true. The best companies know that their success is only partly based on how useful or desired the thing they offer is. The rest depends on how they deal with their customers. Give your customers an all-around awesome experience from start to finish, and they’ll be back. Give them something to remember for negative reasons, and they won’t. It’s impossible to be perfect, but you can at least aim for it! We take a look at a few ways how below.
Go the Extra Mile
Customer’s standards are pretty high and with good reason. We live in an age where people can get anything and everything, almost instantly. They expect big things from the companies they give their money to. As a starting point, you need to make sure that you’re delivering what they asked and paid for. That’s the bread and butter of your business: it has to be perfect! From there, you can add on some extras to add the ‘wow’ factor. It could be a discount code for a future purchase, an upgrade to free delivery, or additional service or product throw in for free, to name just a few examples.
Get Personal
You should have a vision of what your customer will probably be like. They’re called ‘buying personas,’ and they’re useful. But you shouldn’t stop there. Instead of treating your customers as just one of a generally similar bunch, treat them as individuals! Each customer is on their own individual journey with your business, and they should be managed as such. Look at working with a company that offers CRM consulting, and you’ll be able to create personalized messages and promotions, among other things, for your customers. It’s the age of the individual, so don’t treat your customers like they’re all the same: they’re not.
Train Your Employees
Here’s the thing about customer service: it’s not just a matter of being nice and trying to please the people who walk through your door. There’s a lot more to it. You might think that you have friendly, helpful staff – and you’re probably right – but are they customer service experts? Unless they’ve been specially trained, the answer will be no. Look at sending them on a course, and when they come back, you’ll notice a marked improvement in customer satisfaction.
Get Feedback
If you’re not sure whether your customers are fully satisfied with your company or not, then you could always…ask them. After the purchase has been made, you should be sending a follow-up message asking them to fill out a survey. Response rate won’t be off the charts, but over time you’ll glean some useful information about what works and what doesn’t for your clients. You exist for their benefit, not your own. If they make a recommendation, it’ll be worthwhile listening to what they’ve said, and make the changes.