Running a business is made up of a lot of elements but the most important element of business is keeping the customer happy. Companies all around the globe do this in a variety of ways, from offers on their products and services, to social media freebies and giveaways. Happy customers equal loyal customers. Loyal customers recommend companies that they like, which brings more customers to your door who want to buy from you. When this happens, good reviews get even further and build an even bigger customer base. This all helps to grow and further your business while increasing profits: all good stuff!
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By Photoroyalty
Companies will always strive and work as hard as they can to satisfy their customers. Customer satisfaction surveys can indicate exactly how happy your customers are, giving your business a good indication of how improvements can be made and where you can do better in your business processes. The thing is, customer satisfaction is really the bare minimum your company should aim for, isn’t it? You want customers to be satisfied, whether this is by the speed of your website or the ease of being able to buy from you. Satisfaction is great, but what about going beyond that? The experience of buying from you should be memorable. For example, you should be investing properly in good SAP Salesforce Integration so that you never come across a situation where a customer wants to buy from you but there is no stock. Putting in the proper programs and processes would mean that you wouldn’t lose a customer due to lack of stock, and these are the measures that you must take if you want your company to successfully make customers happy. Your company should be striving for an awesome experience that people want to rave about. Think about the experiences that you have had with companies that you buy from personally. Those that throw in freebies for you to enjoy, or spontaneous discounts and upgrades are those that you remember most, right?
If you want to do well with your customers, aim to delight them as well as satisfy them with your products and experiences. Delighted, surprised and excited customers will bleat about you and your brand to anyone and everyone. Social media is such a powerful tool these days, and if you can give someone an amazing experience, you can guarantee the world is going to hear all about it. We’ve got seven simple ideas for you, so that you can delight your customers from the get-go, driving more people and interest to your brand and your service.
A Gift, Sir? It’s absolutely incredible what a freebie will do for people. If you run a hotel brand or a restaurant, a free drink or appetizer that is unexpected will go a long way to your customers. Even a little off the bill after a meal can make your brand stick out in their mind. This is the whole idea; you want to be remembered for a good reason, and it’s such an easy way to ask the customer to come back again without saying the words. Make it a good gift and direct them toward your social media account names. People love to Instagram their meals these days, so watch out, #happy!
Personalize The Experience. A lot of companies, big and small, like to give away pens and pencils that are monogrammed with their company name on them. These often get lost or forgotten about, and when this happens you’re literally just wasting cash. Be a little original with the experience that you give your customers when they buy from you. For example, this card company always slot in a ‘freebie voucher’ for the person you are buying a greetings card for. These little freebies draw a smile and the more that you offer a personalized experience, the bigger the smile you will get.
Listen! Customers will always have feedback and if you give them the chance to give you said feedback, you would be gaining a lot of respect. A lot of companies won’t offer a platform for customers to give the right feedback. The reason for this is fear that they won’t get the feedback that they want to hear. If you have asked your customers to provide you with service feedback, make sure that you acknowledge it. They don’t have to take the time out of their day to give you that opinion on how you are doing, so you should appreciate it when they do.
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Priority Matters. Your customers are going to be the reason that you are making a profit, and when they show loyalty to you, thanking them is the least that you could do. Customers that take the time to sign up to a mailing list deserve to get the first refusal on offers. Have your marketing team send out more personal emails to these customers on the loyalty list, as they will appreciate their name being used and not just ‘Dear Loyal Customer’ – it’s too impersonal. Give advance notice as standard, but offer early access, too!
Resolve Complaints FAST. Whether someone is digging for a freebie or not is irrelevant; if someone complains to you about a product or service that you offer, maintain professionalism at all times. Always show them personal attention and ask them the right questions to get the root of all issues. Tell them how you are going to resolve things and demonstrate this there and then. Follow up any complaints with a conversation about whether everything has been done to their satisfaction. Customers value speed when it comes to complaints; as I am sure you would, too.
Respect. People absolutely despise being hounded for their data, and while companies thrive on getting the data that they need from their customers, some customers aren’t always comfortable with their information being shared. You should be aware of this and if a customer has refused their information then you need to respect that boundary. Customers often want to opt out of those spammy emailers, and that’s absolutely okay. You have to offer the best service so that they want to come and find you; not bug them into hating you and giving you a bad review!
Blog It. One thing that fascinates people about the companies that they love the most is how things are run on the inside; the pieces of the company that they don’t necessarily see on a day to day basis. Running an office blog or vlog about what you’ve been up to in the business that week can really drum up the right interest and give people an insight into your culture. This creates a new kind of brand loyalty and makes you relatable and less ‘faceless’.
The customer may not always be right, but they are right every time they ask you for something or buy from you! Make their experience as memorable, happy and stand-out as possible, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the level of loyalty your company will be shown. Your business is going to thrive when you realize that if you take care of the customers in the right way and with the right processes to keep business moving, you will have a loyal pool of people cemented to use you for what they need. Make it personal, interesting and respectful in everything that you do, and you will be blowing up all over social media for your unique approach to your business.