How to Improve Customer Satisfaction
A few weeks ago, we talked about measuring customer satisfaction and why it was important, we even touched on a few ways to go about setting up the right customer satisfaction tool for your business. Ironically, I wasn’t satisfied with where we left it. Today, I want to go into a little more in depth on how to improve customer satisfaction, not just why it is so important.
Let’s not pretend that this isn’t a topic we – and many others – have looked into over the years! Just Googling ‘How to Improve Customer Satisfaction’ will deliver thousands of great results with insightful tips, guides, and even training options. A lot of research has gone into measuring customer satisfaction and making sure it’s being put to good use, so before we go into the “how”, let’s recap the why:
Why Measuring Customer Satisfaction is important:
- Gives you insight into your customer-base – do they like what you’re selling? Do they like the way you’re selling it? Are they happy with your quality of service?
- Keeps you on top of changes in the market: by measuring customer satisfaction you can start to predict trends and adapt accordingly.
- Can be cost-effective and easy to input: not all customer satisfaction tools have to be complicated, over-the-top systems or programs, they can be as simple as asking a customer to tap on an emoji to indicate their satisfaction at the cashier.
Recap complete! Now that we all remember just how important it is, let’s move onto how we might go about achieving customer satisfaction.
How to Improve Customer Satisfaction in 3 Easy Steps
1. Make every customer feel special
There’s something to be said about a VIP experience, treating every customer who walks into your store, purchases online, or drops you a query as a very-important-person is one of the best ways to make them happy.
Remember the tips we covered in 5 Ways to Improve Customer Service: smile, communicate clearly and honestly, know what you’re talking about, build the relationship, and strive for customer service excellence every time!
2. Never stop measuring customer satisfaction!
Studies show that 91% of unhappy customers will never come back to a business that has failed them. Stop it from ever getting to that point by knowing what’s going on in your customers’ heads, and the only way to do that is to keep checking in with them. (By the way, mystery shopping is a great way to get even further into the details of what’s working and what’s not!)
3. Stay on top of what’s being said online
People are far more likely to provide negative feedback ‘behind your back’ on their social media channels, and they’re actually far more likely to share negative feedback than they are to give you a raving review! If you can jump online and resolve a complaint made directly or indirectly about your brand you are very likely to win that customer right back!
