Keeping your customers satisfied is one of the most challenging things your brand will do. While making exceptional products can go a long way towards doing that, it’s only the first step. How you conduct yourself is as important as what you offer. Here are a few little things you can do to make a big difference for customer satisfaction to make brand more attractive to its audience.
A few decades ago, the relationship between brand and consumer was transactional. They wanted a product, you sold them the product, and that was it. Today, we might as well be living on a different planet, given all that’s changed.
People still demand exceptional products, of course. That’s never going to change. But they want something more than that. They want an exceptional customer experience, too.
If you don’t believe me, let the numbers speak for themselves.
- According to 2018 research from marketing agency HubSpot, 93 percent of customers are likely to make a repeat purchase from a business with excellent customer service.
- A recent infographic from customer experience specialist New Voice Media reveals that the number one reason customers switch to a new brand is that the old brand makes them feel unappreciated.
- Customer Experience Agency InMoment found that 50 percent of customers have stopped doing business with a brand in favor of one that’s able to better serve their needs.
- According to research from SalesForce, it takes a customer 12 positive experiences to redeem a single negative one.
You need to be able to provide excellent service across the board. That means understanding your audience and providing them with the content, products, and engagement they’re looking for. But there are plenty of little things that make a big difference for customer satisfaction, as well.
Here are the most important.
Table of Contents
A Need for Speed
We live in a society where people hate to be kept waiting. When we want something, we want it now.
With that in mind, you need to do whatever it takes to ensure your company is able to respond immediately to customer questions, complaints, and concerns. Whether you receive a message through your Facebook Business Page or through a contact form on your website, you need to be able to respond right away. (You have a bit of wiggle room if the message you receive wasn’t sent during regular business hours.)
Responding quickly and effectively to your business’s audience will lead to more satisfied customers across the board.
A Simple “Thank You” Goes a Long Way
As I’ve already established, a lot of customers stop purchasing from a brand because they don’t feel the brand appreciates them. The best way to avoid this is to be appreciative. This just involves sending follow-up emails and thank-you notes when customers purchase things from you.
You can take things a lot further, though:
- Offering freebies to repeat customers.
- Providing people with special discounts and deals for brand loyalty.
- Engaging directly with user-created content.
- Tying value-added services to your products.
All of this shows your customers that their business matters to you. And not just because it keeps the lights on.
Keep it Hassle-Free
If there’s one thing all the best customer service experiences have in common, it’s seamlessness. Whether a customer is purchasing a product or returning one, the process should be absolutely painless. One of the worst things you can do is try to prevent exchanges, cancellations, or returns. A clear FAQ page creates an opportunity to explain to customers how to cancel services, and exchange/ return items.
If it’s easy to sign up for a service, it should be easy to terminate that service. That’s the golden rule. Sure, that might mean you lose out on a bit of revenue. But that’s not honest money anyway.
And you can bet that the people who have to jump through hoops and lose money because of your cumbersome cancellation process will tell their friends. That will cost you business.
Conclusion
As a business owner, customer satisfaction is the most valuable currency of all. It’s how you create trust and engagement. It’s also how you draw in leads and keep them coming back again and again.
It’s simple: Apply the tips outlined above and make a greater effort to understand your audience’s needs.
About the Author:
Brad Wayland is the Chief Strategy Officer at BlueCotton, a site with high-quality, easy-to-design custom t-shirts.
