Customer satisfaction is the pillar of almost all successful businesses. Many people may say that a satisfied customer is a happy customer, but this isn’t necessarily true. While satisfaction can provide a momentary feeling after a great interaction, customer happiness is a longer and deeper process. Happiness is what keeps your customers coming back to use your business over any competition. So how can we ensure that our customers are both satisfied and happy?
Knowing your customers needs
As humans, all we want is our needs to be met, and if things go awry it may lead to utter disappointment and dissatisfaction. You never want to be at odds with your clients, so taking the time to understand their desires and how they can be ideally fulfilled is vital to overall customer happiness. As a company, you need to ask how you can assist your customers in any way possible and provide the steps to overcome any roadblocks in their experience.
Allow for your clients to provide feedback, whether good or bad, after their shopping experience! This will let you know where your business is falling short with customer needs and where you can improve to really drive customer happiness. This allows you to see why the customer didn’t buy anything in the first place or why they chose your company in order to create a better experience for their next visit.
Keep your word
When dealing with your customers it’s important to not make promises you cannot keep and to stick to your word. Say you normally offer an after sales service that has been temporarily disbanded due to unforeseen circumstances like COVID-19, this transparency is vital in establishing trust and satisfaction with your customers. Don’t tease your customer with options that may be unavailable at the moment, but instead opt for other ventures that may be relatable or available for the customer currently. Keeping your word allows for customers to build a stronger connection to your brand and shows that you are a consistent and reliable business for them to spend their money at.
Personalization
When a customer walks into a store, they have a need that has yet to be met at that moment. Fulfilling this need leads to a satisfied customer; but in order to create overall customer happiness, a company needs to exceed their clients’ expectations. Your customer should feel as if you are eagerly waiting for their next visit. A great way to do this is, of course, understanding their needs as we explored above, but also taking that extra step to show that you’re thinking of them when they’re not in the store. This may look like recommending future purchases based on their buying history, or sending out personalized messages during birthdays or any other important milestones in your customer’s life. While the latter may not seem tangible at first, it is all about creating a bond with your clients so that they know you are listening to their comments and/or concerns, leading to comprehensive happiness with your brand as a whole.
Showing gratitude
There is nothing worse than spending half your pay cheque on a big ticket item, and then never hearing from the brand again. Customers need to feel appreciated, like their interaction with your brand had a great positive impact. This is why personalized thank you messages or rewards in the form of loyalty points or percentage off their next purchase is so important. First, your customer will feel valued for choosing to buy from your brand, and henceforth will be more likely to return. Secondly, a rewards system or special deals will bring them back into the store, eventually buying more from you and feeling happy to do so.
Keep them coming back for more
Now that you have the stepping stones for the ultimate customer experience, it’s time to keep them coming back to your business and not finding other options elsewhere.
Of course, your loyalty reward program and customer feedback forms will help with this, but it doesn’t end there. Customer happiness relies on a strong allegiance to your brand and this all comes back to human-centric design. Remember that every customer is different, so each of their experiences and needs will differ too. It is up to you and your business to research the ways that will ensure happiness for every customer no matter how much they spend at your store.
Need more help? Get in contact with us at hello@impactsignal.com or fill out the form on our website so we can help you get started with your happiest customers yet!
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