Keep customers happy to maintain loyalty

Businesses need customers and these customers need to be happy. And ideally, these happy customers share this happiness with their friends and keep coming back to you with their friends in tow. Only businesses that have an intense focus on customer satisfaction are the ones that thrive in today’s day and age. Customer satisfaction is the one thing that lies between surviving and thriving.

And to organizations striving to hold on to their valued customers, it is a known fact that loyal and satisfied customers spend 67% more than new customers. So, it’s a no-brainer that customer loyalty is something that really works. That leaves companies to do a bit of thinking as to what they should be doing to keep holding on their customers and also make them come back over and over again.

Word-of-mouth works wonders

Customer satisfaction is extremely vital to a brands' success because we all know how loyal customers convert and spend with brands they like more often. Word-of-mouth marketing works wonderfully and acts more effectively than advertising or branded content. This can be seen from the fact that 40% of an e-commerce store’s revenue is created by only 8% of its customers. This 8% is made up of your repeat customers, making it clear that they are extremely profitable!

In the era of the always-connected consumer, one thing has been made amply clear that an experience that leaves the customer smiling is the one thing that truly matters. More often than not, the experience outdoes the product itself. The customer wants to deal with only those who manage to make them satisfied and happy.

6 important ways to increase customer satisfaction:

1. Timeliness is what matters

Whatever your touchpoint or even industry, a response in time is sure to save nine! It is an important factor that drives satisfaction. No one has the patience or the willingness to wait in a world that is evolving and transforming at speeds not known before. With waning attention spans, speedy responses can make or break relationships. A real-time customer feedback app can help you brilliantly in such a scenario.

2. Behavioural data has overtaken other forms of data

Behaviours tell us when, why and how customers buy what they are buying. Calls made for technical assistance, logging in for webinars, tweets and retweets, body language – all these factors are paramount while considering CSAT (customer satisfaction). And a survey can help understand the customer in a much better and detailed manner.

3. When attributes vary, satisfaction will also differ

Maybe an 8 on 10 could be marvelous for one attribute but lower for another. Attributes with a human touch may score higher than the ones that are impersonal or inanimate. A CSAT feedback form will reveal this fact too.

4. Metrics need benchmarks

Benchmarks can help us know and emphasize certain areas of improvement. If our automobile scores 6.7 in space and 7.3 in style, it means well that space needs to be prioritized while designing the vehicle. The results of CSAT survey software will tell you much more and the answers are sure to amaze you.

5. Employ multiple metrics

Multiple metrics that take into consideration financial, customer, employee, and market provide the complete picture of your business. Do not fall for claims that only this or that metric works best. Remember, the more the merrier. Customer satisfaction survey software can come to your aid with an amalgamation of all the metrics.

6. Brace yourself for feedback – good, bad or ugly

Feedback from people who use your products can only help you better yourself.

According to a study conducted at a US retail chain, customers who were handed over a customer satisfaction survey which asked for a positive feedback or a compliment at the beginning of the survey completed 9% more transactions and spent 8% more with the chain over the following year than the ones who were asked to take the same survey without the request for a compliment.

Another research undertaken at a B2B software firm revealed that users of trial software who were asked at the start of a customer satisfaction survey to mention the features they especially liked spent up to 32% more on the company’s products in the coming than trial users who were not requested to give a positive feedback in the survey.

Importance of Customer Satisfaction

The ones responsible to measure CSAT know what it takes to keep customers happy and can also put a finger on the exact numbers of unhappy customers and the risk it causes. By numerically calculating the importance of customer satisfaction, companies can have more meaningful conversations with the end users as well as employees and the amount of investment that is required to up the game.

Brands need to make sure that the teams are holistically committed to improving customer satisfaction on a regular basis. Once organizations can measure their progress with customer satisfaction apps, they are sure to enjoy the benefits. Satisfied customers not only come back to you but also endorse you in their network. As is already known, customer advocacy is a very effective form of marketing. Small businesses estimate that 85% of their new business comes from word of mouth.

Just in the way conflicts and arguments in a relationship can totally drain you out, complaining and grouchy customers constantly testing your patience with their grouse leads to heartache, burnout and a workplace that attracts negativity and leaves you unhappy.

Not a single soul on earth can deny the importance of focussing on customer satisfaction. Keeping yourself on your toes to keep your customers happy and loyal as well as satisfied means more business, steadier and longer relationships and more than that - a much better day at the office!