At the heart of every business is customer satisfaction. It is what dictates how a brand moves forward, and just like in any relationship, resources must be spent towards maintaining or even improving the satisfaction of your consumer so that you remain relevant and running. There have been many methods by which we can measure customer satisfaction, but companies from hotels to restaurants to big corporations are all bound by the same principles of prioritizing people.
So how do you make people stay at your side of the fence? Here are a handful of tips you should observe:
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Ensure satisfaction at every touch point
As stated earlier, customer satisfaction can be measured in different ways, especially given that it involves a number of factors. Therefore, it is absolutely important that you point out where and how your customers interact with your brand. From the moment visitors enter your establishment until they leave, customers and visitors have to be serviced in the best way.
Don’t hesitate to couple human resource with technology. Automated receptionists like greetly.com help ease calendaring responsibilities by dispensing visitor badges and other notifications. That way, you can save on manpower and still make a good impression on your guests.
Address the system, not a scenario
Say you score low on a customer satisfaction test. By then you’re probably trying to find out what went wrong.
In the unfortunate event that happens it’s important to get at the heart of your problem. It may not be a particular point in your business. Heck, it may not even be the product or the brand.
Cases may be isolated but they can still be symptomatic of a larger fault in your system. Maybe members are not motivated enough to deliver. Maybe you carry the burden of errors too often. Whichever it is, you need to address the root of the problem.
Establish a system of appraisal for efficient members. Integrate processes more so that members know what the others are accountable for. Let the customer steer and suggest things beyond what they see wrong. Band-aids solutions don’t work for businesses looking to stay in business for long.
Make your members the best resource
Problems are always people-oriented. Whether a product is faulty, or service is poor can be entirely traced to protocols set by human element. Companies are, after all, about human interaction. So while your team sets out to accomplish visions, it should also practice its virtues. Smile, be courteous and receptive to guests, impress visitors with keen visitor registration systems, and keep in touch with customers, share experiences.
Regardless of how advanced your technology is, you should always place a premium on personal connections.
Stay confident and concise to customers
Business is more about finding loyal customers than finding unique ones. Customer loyalty research states that winning new customers can be up to twenty times more expensive than retaining existing ones. So, when your interact with your patrons, you need to make sure that you go beyond the bare minimum–but don’t over-promise either. Stay humble, and meet expectations to the fullest.
Customer relations should always go beyond face-to-face sales. Shake a customer’s hand, solicit feedbacks, assist in visitor registration, get to know them, offer a free subscription to your mailing list–anything to show human touch.
Maintaining communication at all fronts not only sends the idea that you do listen, but also gives you a foresight on which direction your brand or product can take.
Don’t play the blame game
Not many companies or brands realize this but most corporate environments end up castigating people for their mistakes. However, no matter how bad employees feel about their mistakes, sharp correction is very seldom effective.
Yes, checks and balances must be in place. However, comments must reformative rather than destructive. Instead of demoralizing a member, which can cause them to lose motivation or, worse, desensitize them to errors, try to instill wisdom and knowledge even when it’s tempting to do otherwise.
Regardless who is responsible, it is ultimately the company’s name at stake. Being such, your team should try to work hand-in-hand rather than apart. Focus on solving problems, not people
Customer satisfaction is ultimately a human experience, which means they are built on human emotions and human desires. Invest in genuine human relationships that satisfy those desires and you’ll be well on your way to retaining or even increasing your loyal followers!