Improving customer satisfaction means improving your business. Read on to learn the top eight tips to help improve customer satisfaction.
Over 50 percent of shoppers have decided not to make a purchase due to poor customer service. They might have the item in their shopping cart, but still decide to go elsewhere.
What that means is customer service has the power to boost or break your business.
If your current customer satisfaction level is low, don’t worry. There are many things you can change right now that make a huge difference.
From improving company morale to studying customer complaints, the solutions are endless. Keep reading for eight ways to improve customer satisfaction.
- Happy Employees, Happy Customers
One sure-fire way to ruin your customers’ experience is by having employees who don’t want to be there. Making your employees happier makes their customer interactions better.
It’s crucial you pay your employees what they’re worth to you. Paying minimum wage is essentially saying, “I’d pay you less if I could.” If your budget doesn’t allow higher wages, make up for it in other ways.
Offer benefits, discounts, and team-building events. Empower your employees with further education and room for growth in the company. Teach them new skills to keep them engaged.
This should go without saying, but it unfortunately happens and affects customer satisfaction. Don’t reprimand your employees in front of customers. All disciplinary conversations should happen in the back.
- Manage Expectations from Marketing
As a business owner, you have control over some or all marketing materials. You can control the accuracy of the ads and the claims in your marketing.
If you exaggerate the claims in your marketing, your customers will feel disappointed. They’ll also feel annoyed that your marketing mislead them.
It can be tempting to make your products or services sound better than they are. But, this will only disappoint customers and thus ruin their experience. Not to mention your sales.
- Gather Customer Reviews
If you aren’t already gathering customer feedback, it’s time to start. It’s incredibly helpful to get feedback from your customers so you know where to improve.
You can do this by putting survey cards in each bag. Or, by sending a follow-up survey email after their purchase. Some companies have anonymous hotlines for customers to call in with their feedback.
Once you have the feedback data, study it. Don’t overlook or underestimate any of them. Every piece of feedback can teach you something.
- Address Issues Fast
The moment you know a customer had a poor experience, address it. The longer it takes for you to respond, the worse your reputation becomes to that person. There’s nothing stopping them from sharing their bad experience publicly on social media.
Remember to treat customers how you’d want to be, even if they’re putting up a fight about something. It’s easier to give in a little to make them happy. If they want their money back, consider giving store credit so you get another chance to impress them.
When bad reviews or feedback gets left online, address it online on that platform. Then, contact them personally to handle it. It’s important for those who read the online platform to see how you handle the complaint.
- Lower Wait Times
No one likes waiting in line. If it happens all the time in your business, you’re going to have a lower average customer satisfaction.
You can improve wait times by staffing well and training staff on what to do when it’s busy. There should never be long wait times because you don’t have enough employees working. When it’s busy, all hands should be on deck.
In return, you’ll have happier customers. They’ll become return customers who speak well about your business. This will result in more profit for you.
It’s also important to lower the wait times for phone calls and online correspondence. To improve, consider hiring an answering service. Get more info to see how they can boost customer satisfaction.
- Train Your Employees Well
Even if your main employees are part-time high school students, it’s crucial you train them well. Customers expect the people working at a business to know what they’re selling.
If a customer asks your cashier where your materials come from, they better know the answer.
You can ensure your staff is knowledgeable by training them well. Go into detail on all your products and services so they understand.
Role-play different customer interactions so they know how you’d like them to respond. Teach them to make a connection with every customer. And, of course, lead by example.
- Surprise Benefits
People love free stuff! It makes them happy to feel like they’ve gotten a deal. For a small fee, you can make sure every customer leaves your business feeling that way.
Consider giving away freebies or samples of products. You could promote it as an event, or give them to random customers any day of the week.
Create discounts for people that don’t always get them. Like veterans, police officers, teachers, or even students who bring in a great report card.
- Send in a Mystery Shopper
When in doubt, hire a mystery shopper. You might be missing something about the customer experience in your business. A mystery shopper can give you an unbiased perspective of what it’s like to shop there.
You can also use it as a test for your employees. Make sure the shopper asks about the product and converses with the employee. They could even complain a little.
It’s a sneaky tactic, but it’s also a great way to see your customers’ experience objectively. Having a regular mystery shopper allows you to keep a pulse on how your customers feel.
Ready to Improve Customer Satisfaction in Your Business?
Customer satisfaction is a huge component of your business’s success. Without happy customers, you don’t have sales.
You can improve customer satisfaction by changing a few things. Use the eight tips above and see the impact they have on your business.
For more information on improving your business’ customer service and boosting sales, check out the Business Blog.
