The art of dealing with customers and customer satisfaction (how to measure customer satisfaction)
There are products that may survive dissatisfied customers and one-time purchases, but products whose owners focus on customer satisfaction will thrive. The art of dealing with customers and customer satisfaction is the difference between survival and prosperity.
Customer satisfaction is essential to achieving repeat purchases and increasing customer retention. Although there are no steadfast rules or strategies for customer satisfaction, following best practices will surely help achieve the highest customer satisfaction in any industry or sector.
7 practices and ideas to satisfy customers
Here are 7 practices to keep your customers happy and satisfied at the highest level:
1. Be honest and don’t disappoint their expectations
One of the biggest causes of customer dissatisfaction is when a service or product does not match the customer’s expectations. Your marketing efforts must be carefully crafted so that you don’t make promises you can’t keep. The customer likes to get in the end what was actually promised.
2. Make your greeting smile
If you really leave your personal problems at home each day, it will be a real step to train yourself to smile and be genuinely happy to greet each new customer. Don’t pretend – make it a habit to smile every time you greet a customer at work (even if it’s over the phone, because a real smile comes from your voice too). You might be surprised how much difference it makes to the way customers treat you.
3. Communicate effectively
Effective communication is all about speaking clearly and listening well. Be careful; Listening to and writing down your customer’s inquiries or feedback and making sure you understand what your customer wants. Customers in general are not as well acquainted with your product as you are, so be sure to use easy-to-understand terms to describe your products and services, and feel free to rephrase your phrases if necessary. Effective communication skills is the most important factor in providing excellent customer service and ensuring their satisfaction.
4. Treat the customer with respect
Every customer likes to be treated with respect and treated as a VIP. If a customer receives respect from you, they are likely to treat you back. If he feels disrespected, it will be taken personally. No matter who they are your customer, everyone deserves respect simply because they are human.
Your words, the way you communicate, and the tone of your voice can either make your customers feel respected or not.
5. Create long-term relationships
Customer satisfaction is the key to creating a long-term relationship with your customers. But maintaining and sustaining this relationship is not an easy task. You will need to keep providing “value” over and over again if you aim to keep your customer satisfied.
Consistent satisfaction leads to loyalty. Once the customer puts trust in a company and is sure that the company will continue its approach and services, he will in turn continue to deal with this company.
6. Measure customer satisfaction
If your goal is to satisfy your customers, it is very important that you make sure to measure customer satisfaction on a regular basis. This will help you see how you’re doing and do what it takes, whether to reinforce your position if you’re on the right track, or to put things right and get back on the right track.
There are several ways to measure customer satisfaction, including one-on-one conversations, handwritten surveys, or electronic surveys.. But the most popular and effective way is to simply ask your customers.
7. Focus on after-sales service
Usually companies are great at dealing with the completion of the sale process, but unfortunately most of them after that do not care about the customer until a new sale comes. This just shows that the company is interested in selling – not its customers.
You should strive to provide better after-sales service. Following up on customer complaints after sales, replacing products, providing services on defective products, etc. are some examples where customers expect good treatment, honesty and transparency.
In the end, the art of dealing with customers and customer satisfaction is nothing more than adopting a strategy that always puts your customers first.
The importance of customer satisfaction
No one can deny the importance of customer satisfaction. Keeping your customers happy and loyal means more sales, long-term relationships, and profits.
A satisfied customer will recommend your product. Customer advocacy of a particular brand is a very effective form of marketing. 85% of new “small business” business comes from word-of-mouth.
A satisfied customer will continue to buy from you. Not only is a loyal customer spending in the long run, the task of keeping them happy is actually less expensive than trying to get a new one. The cost of attracting a new customer is estimated to be 6 times higher than retaining an existing customer.
A satisfied customer will put you and your business at ease. Having unhappy customers leads to trouble and a very unhappy work environment. A dissatisfied customer will be bad publicity that will have a huge negative impact on you. Every dissatisfied customer tells 9-10 people about their bad experience.
How to measure customer satisfaction
There are several different methods and systems for measuring customer satisfaction but no matter which system is adopted there are common core points that focus on perceived quality, meeting customer expectations, customer loyalty, satisfaction and intent to buy again.
Methods of collecting information to measure the level of customer satisfaction: Information can be collected through survey research, interviews and opinion polls after determining the size and scope of the survey and choosing the best methods for collecting information. The frequency of opinion polls should be sufficient to provide the company with information but not to disturb the customer.
Key Performance Indicators: The performance indicator is used in comparison with the set goals. Dealing with goals may sometimes spoil the measurement of customer satisfaction because the majority focus on following up on performance and comparing it to the company’s goals. However, this follow-up is not enough. Rather, the causes that contributed and led to these numbers must be known and managed, and thus know what needs to be amended.
Analyzing the results: As we said, there are different approaches to analyzing the results, but the most important thing is to know how to benefit from them.
Listening to what the customer does not say: The customer will naturally focus on a narrow angle when he talks about what he likes or does not like. Therefore, it is very important to develop skills and approaches that enable the company to monitor customers in an attempt to understand their actual needs.
Conclusion
A satisfied customer is not limited to being a loyal customer who will repeat dealing with you many times, but his loyalty to you will go beyond recommending and recommending your products and services to others and encouraging them to deal with you. Of course, this will help reduce your costs of acquiring new customers, compared to the customers you attract and reach through your marketing campaigns and promotions.
Customer loyalty and satisfaction is a valued goal. A loyal customer is valued at 10 times the value of the purchase he made the first time. So set specific strategies and clear goals to achieve customer satisfaction to succeed in obtaining all these gains.