If customers need to be your top priority, then why are business executives finding that what they thought about their customers realistically differs from what they want and need? The question of how best to know your customers is undoubtedly a tough one, but it’s still a question that has to be drilled in so that customer satisfaction, retention and long-term loyalty can be attained.
Some of these tips may be more self-explanatory than others, yet they are nonetheless important. Your business can’t afford to lose customers due to completely preventable reasons; in fact, it is six to seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one. In addition to implementing advanced call center software, let’s take a look at two things you absolutely need to know about your customers, as depicted in a recent Help Scout infographic:
1.) Good vs. fast service: You pay a company to paint your house and you’re shocked to find that it only takes two hours; however, you go to take a good look and see that the job has been sloppily and incompetently done. Remember that there’s a huge difference between “good” and “fast” service. Also remember that customers cited “rude, incompetent and rushed” service as their number one reason to abandon a brand.
2.) Give them personalization: In a recent study from the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, researchers were able to actually increase the average tips that waiters received by 23 percent – without changing service quality. How? They had waiters bring over a second set of mints after they already brought over the check. Waiters who didn’t follow up with customers in this more personalized and attentive way received an average 7 percent less in tips.
3.) Call them by name: According to recent research examining brain activation, the sound of hearing one’s own name is very pleasant. In fact, few sounds are as enjoyable as when we hear our own name.
