The customer is king! How many times within business have you heard this phrase? Unlike "the customer is always right", this phrase is vital to the success of your business. The customer isn't always right, but they hold a lot of power within your company and treat them with respect, and if they are the only person that matters, they can help you grow your business. There are many reasons why businesses fail: money and poor planning. In the main ones, neglecting the customer experience can be as fatal as poor cash flow. A bad reputation can be tough to claw back, deserved or not, and while the customer isn't always right (in fact, they are very rarely right), they are always king. This post looks at ways to pander to this in a way that serves your business well.
By Team Savant
Image: Madison Oren
Active Listening
It doesn't matter if this is in the literal sense of listening or metaphorical. You need to listen to what they are telling you. For retailers, this means talking to and engaging with customers at different points in their experience in-store. This attentiveness, even to general chit-chats, can build a reputation as a retailer who cares. At the same time, if you run an ecommerce store, you need to actively listen to the data and trends customer behaviour displays to help you make the appropriate changes and improve what you do for improved satisfaction.
Active Listening means taking in what you hear and paying attention, not just going through the motions, being engaged and proactive, jumping on opportunities, listening to nuances and body language and applying this to how you operate for maximum benefits.
Freebies, Discounts and Loyalty
Customers love nothing more than getting a freebie or two, and there are many ways to build customer loyalty and boost sales by giving away free stuff, even if it seems like you are throwing money away at first. Customer acquisition is more expensive than retention, and existing customers are likelier to make repeat purchases. So while it can be good to make enticing offers for new customers, you should also treat existing ones with the same courtesy as a minimum. Loyalty cards, discount schemes for previous customers, and freebies with orders are all great options to keep your current customer base happy and encourage ongoing sales.
Make Things Easy
The fewer challenges there are in the way of a customer making the purchase, the better. Be it face-to-face or via your website. You need to navigate the sales process as a customer and see how easy it is to purchase and find what you need. This means having clear signage in the store, a bright, easy-flowing layout, and highlighted till points. If your customer feels like they can't find what they need or you make things complicated to get through the till: add-on sales, and sign-ups we’re looking at you, they might turn around and walk out.
The same goes for your website. While modern minimalist websites with many features can be attractive to look at, if things are too complex or the customer needs to click through or off many ad pop-ups or pages to get what they want, they will close the tab. Be clear, use easy navigation, keep pop-ups to a minimum and ensure the site is optimised for mobile users for maximum benefits.
It pays to navigate your business as the consumer to let you see and understand the process from their point of view. This enables you to tweak things to make them more accessible and ensure everyone has the best experience possible with your business.
Speedy Deliveries
Another way in which you can work to keep your customers happy is to ensure they receive their products in a timely fashion. This is particularly important in the current climate, where customers often expect to receive their order within a number of days (and sometimes overnight). Meeting these expectations can be difficult, especially during peak periods, but it does not have to be.
For example, it could simply mean that you need to invest in a SG Fleet, so that you can expand your team of delivery personnel. The more vehicles you have on the road, the easier it is to meet consumer demand and reach your targets. As a result, this can help you to take customer satisfaction to new heights.