A Guide to Defining Customer Satisfaction for Your Business
With 627,000 new businesses starting each year, you’ve got a lot of competition. With so much competition nipping at your heels, you have to do something to set yourself apart.
Smart companies are noticing that one of the easiest and most effective ways to set themselves apart is to provide the best customer service and create high levels of customer satisfaction.
How do you go about defining customer satisfaction? Continue reading, and we will share with you some best practices on how to tell if your customers are happy and satisfied. We will also share with you what to do to keep them that way.
Keeping It Simple
While it would be easy to go on about different numbers and what they mean for your customer’s satisfaction level, let’s keep it simple.
In the simplest terms, your customer satisfaction is how they feel about your company. If they feel bad about the company, then customer satisfaction is obviously low. If they feel good about the company, then customer satisfaction is high.
When we say it like that, it sounds simple, but there are a lot of moving parts to keep your customers satisfied.
Survey Your Customers Regularly
Aren’t sure if your customers are satisfied? The good news is that you can just ask them.
Customers are usually happy to take surveys whether they are happy or upset with your company. The customers that usually don’t take the surveys are the ones that feel mediocre about your company.
You can survey your customers through using various survey platforms online, or you might even choose only to ask one question. Any feedback you can get from your customers will help you start working in the right direction of keeping them happy, so don’t get upset when you see negative feedback roll in.
Monitor Social Media
Many times, you don’t even have to ask your customers how they feel about your brand. They may already be raving over your products and services online. In some cases, you may notice there are some negative things floating around online.
No matter which way things are going, you are almost able to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Use social media monitoring, not only to understand your customers but also to interact and build a relationship.
Customers love it when brands interact with them and let them know they care about how they feel.
Why Is Customer Satisfaction Important?
When you’re growing your business, and you’re selling a lot of your products and services, it is easy to wonder why customer satisfaction is important. There are plenty of people that have complained, but your numbers keep going up.
Enjoy the ride while it lasts because unhappy customers are bad news, and here’s why:
Shows Whether Customers Want to Purchase Again
If you aren’t paying attention to customer satisfaction, you don’t truly have a finger on the pulse of whether people are going to buy again or not.
When you’re proactive with the customer experience, and you help them even after they purchase, that is when you’re going to see good results. Using helpful tools like customer engagement software keeps you ahead of the curve instead of being stuck wondering why your customers didn’t buy again.
If you find that your customers are not happy, you can do something about it. If you do something about it, you might not keep them, but you might reduce the negative things they say about you.
Sets You Apart from the Competition
Having a high customer satisfaction rating means that you’ll be set apart from the competition. Some companies’ marketing is run purely off of how happy their customers are with the services.
People love doing business with businesses that take good care of their customers.
Reduces Customer Churn
Constantly losing customers and having to gain new ones is a waste of energy. Instead of focusing so much on refilling the cup because water keeps splashing out, why not steady the cup and keep people from jumping ship?
Reducing customer churn makes salespeople within your company much happier as well, which means that you’re likely to have less turnover in your workforce.
Increases Positive Word of Mouth Marketing
When customers love your products and services, they are happy to shout it from the rooftops. They tell their friend that is having a similar problem. They talk to their neighbor that has the same type of interests, and anyone else that seems like they might be interested.
When you have a salesforce out there that you don’t have to pay, that is a powerful place to be.
It’s Less Expensive to Keep a Customer Than Gain a New One
When you constantly have that churn we talked about up above, it costs you. Every time you have to gain a new customer instead of keeping an old one, you’re putting out money you shouldn’t have to.
Learning how to keep your customers satisfied and building your own crew of positive brand ambassadors is essential if you want to make it in the market today.
Use These Best Practices for Defining Customer Satisfaction
Now that you have a better understanding of how to go about defining customer satisfaction, you’ll be able to keep moving and growing your business. Paying close attention to what your customers are telling you is a must if you want to continue to see your business thrive.
