Customers may not remember the details of their interaction with you, but they will remember how you made them feel. To be sure your customers walk away feeling good about their experiences, in addition to resolving their needs, it might be time to rethink how you connect and get customer feedback.
Though for the most part it only takes a minute or two to review an experience, if I stopped what I was doing every time someone wanted me to fill out a form or answer their call to give them feedback, I’d never get anything done. While the trend of asking for feedback started with good intentions, businesses need a new way to measure how they’re doing.
So how can you get feedback and create customer loyalty that surpasses that of your competitors? Here are 5 easy steps you can take to rock your customer satisfaction, retention, and referrals:
- Respect Your Customer’s Time. The key to being an awesome service provider is to make your customer feel like you understand their needs and can meet them quickly. If you want to know how you’re doing, just ask if you’ve solved their problem during your conversation. What better time to find out and address the issue if you haven’t, than right after you’ve taken care of them?
- Live Humans Surpass Recorded Messages. Whether you run a multi-billion dollar company or a two-person shop, technology may enhance your business architecture, but it doesn’t replace human contact. I get great personal service from real people at huge companies like Adobe, Constant Contact, GoDaddy, eTrade, and even Amazon. If they can do it, so can you. Find a way to connect your customers to live humans as quickly as possible.
- Be Responsive. This seems obvious, but with the advent of call routing and waiting, and the notion that tech support can be handled by FAQs and bots, we’ve become alienated from our customers. I know you’re busy, but it doesn’t take much to create customer loyalty. Respond within 24 hours to customer emails, even if it’s to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll get back to you asap with an answer.” Phone call backs should occur within 24 hours as well.
- Be a Problem Resolver. Make yourself indispensable by developing the relationship. If you don’t have the answer, let them know you will do your best to find a solution. Customer loyalty comes through consistently reliable problem solving which can be nurtured by becoming a resource rather than a source for a limited one-time sale.
- Soften the Upsell. Unless they ask about additional services or you think another offer will help them with their current need, use good judgment around trying to push additional products or services, especially if it’s your first contact. Focus on meeting the need and building the relationship over time.
Overall, the golden rule applies. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Think about how you want to be treated before implementing your customer service practices. Customers may not remember the details of your conversation, but they will remember how you made them feel. And that can add up to a lot of unsolicited 5-star reviews.
For a review of your customer journey, please get in touch. We’d love to help you increase customer satisfaction and move the needle for better ROI.