Why Your Customers Aren’t Satisfied And What To Do About It

The biggest factor in determining whether your business is going to be a success isn’t the state of the economy. It’s how satisfied your customers are. Ultimately it is they who decide, through exercising their preferences, whether your businesses succeeds. And that means that the overriding goal must be to satisfy the majority of people who pay your wage.

But, unfortunately, many small businesses get customer service wrong. They make their businesses too much about themselves and have too little focus on the customer. It’s a mistake that big companies can make too, with dire consequences.

The following are reasons why your customers might not be satisfied, and what you can do about it.

Throw Away The Scripts
Customers aren’t stupid. When they ring your company, they know whether the person on the other end of the phone is reading from a script or not. It’s not that it’s unprofessional. It’s just that in their desperation to avoid faux-pas, companies rely on scripts and alienate customers.

To improve customer experience, treat your customers as if they are individuals. Speaking to them as if they are a fellow human being makes you a lot more approachable and helps to open up a genuine conversation.

Respond Quickly To Emails
In the age of social media, instant responses have come to be expected. Of course, this isn’t always possible, which is why you might just want to send a message notifying the client of your receipt of their email. But if you can, send a reply quickly. It makes you look professional and give the customer the impression that you really care.

Build Partnerships With Customers
All too often businesses see their customers as a herd of sheep that needs to be managed. But this turns customers into people who depend on businesses as children depend on their mothers and fathers.

This is healthy for kids, but no so healthy in the context of voluntary adult relationships. Partnering with customers is often a lot more effective than merely pandering to them. Partnering makes customers feel like equals and empowers them to take their projects forwards.

Make Sure All Departments Understand The Importance Of Customer Service
Your customer service division might be well trained in customer service. But are your other departments? Probably not.

But this is a potential problem. Other departments are inevitably going to come into contact with customers at some point. And when they do, there’s a risk that they could let your company down. Show them how their actions harm their own chances of success and harms the reputation of the business as a whole.

Maintain Helpful Tone
The last thing that you want to do while you’re speaking with a customer is to get angry or change your tone. Your tone should always be one of reconciliation and proactive helpfulness. But that goes without saying.

Follow these simple tips and you’ll soon find that your customers are a lot more satisfied. Ultimately, it’s about recognizing their needs taking the necessary steps to meet those needs.