In today’s economic climate to engage with your customer’s emotions will give you and your business the competitive edge. Those emotions drive their behaviour and their choices. Fantastic customer experience is the secret ingredient which will make them repeat customers, while simultaneously subconsciously prompting them to tell all their friends and family about your business. Here are my five reasons to focus on what your customers are experiencing.
1. Retention of your customers. When customers know that they are special and that the company they buy from, genuinely cares about them, then they are more likely to stay with that company. When you add sensational customer service to that mix, then it’s a no-brainer, and it makes it that more difficult for them to just walk away.
2. Boost your profits. Finding new clients costs money. You need to spend time on creating beautiful pitches, then possibly wine and dine them – all of this takes time and we all know time equals money. Then on a wing and pray you hope they sign a contract with your company. Retaining existing clients and having them tell their friends and family about your business is your best form of advertising – and it costs you nothing.
3. Grow your business through word of mouth marketing. There is no getting away from the fact that your customers pay more attention to personal recommendations than to conventional marketing messages. A study in 2009 found that South Africans are 86% more inclined to respond to word of mouth, than the rest of the world which averages 69%. Those recommendations come in the form of a stranger’s blog, review, tweet or Facebook comment mostly online as we know. The power of word of mouth marketing is immense; therefore ensure your customer’s “mouths” are praising you.
4. Supercharge your businesses brand. Delivering great customer experience can be hard but worthwhile. If your customers know that they can’t get that same service levels elsewhere, they’re likely to stick to your business longer. Delighting them and consistently engaging with them at every point in their “buying journey” will make them your greatest brand ambassadors. Your brand is also lived out by your employees; so ensure they understand the importance of your customers. My key tip here is to link their specific job description or roles back to your businesses profitability and ultimate goals.
5. Attract the best employees. When people love your brand or product, and potential employees see that energy – they will want to work for you. Attracting competent and passionate employees almost always, in my experience leads to great customer experience delivered by the best employees.
Delivering great customer experience demonstrates an understanding of your customers emotions. Whether it’s B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer) – it’s all the same, we humans run on emotions. The better you are satisfying those emotions, the more your customer will “engage” with your business and spread the word about your business. Improve their interactions and enhance the experiences they have with your business, to stay ahead in your industry.