Peter Drucker, a world renowned economist, said ‘there is only one valid definition of business purpose - to create a customer’. Well, true, for without customers how can business function? However, considering the dynamics of the business environment today, creating them alone is no longer enough, the next step is to satisfy them. ‘Customer satisfaction’ is increasingly becoming the great slogan of businesses and increasing competition is forcing businesses to pay much more attention to satisfying customers. When a customer purchases a product or service from your company, that customer expects it to perform as advertised or according to specification or even un-stated expectations of performance and reliability. But the question is how do you meet the expectations of customers thus telling that they are satisfied? Are you wondering where your customers went? Why haven’t they hear from them? Did they leave? If so, why? There are many reasons a customer or client may leave you, but the ones you will hear most often are: • They felt your pricing was too high or unfair. • They had an unresolved complaint. • They took a competitors offer. • They left because they felt you didnt care. Before you spend your time and money going after new customers and clients you do not currently have a relationship with consider the following statistics: • Repeat customers spend 33 percent more than new customers. • Referrals among repeat customers are 107 percent greater than non-customers. • It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing to a customer. Here are some of the tips to help you win new and maintain existing customers. Know your customers’ needs: Be sure to know what it is your customers are looking for. This may sound obvious but you’d be amazed at just how many businesses get it wrong. Devise measures of meeting their needs: Depending on the needs study findings, you are then tasked to find ways of satisfying loyal customers as well as attracting new ones. Minimise hassle, maximise time saving: People are busy juggling stressful lives. Do not add to their stress. In fact, do all you can to reduce it. Respond to messages promptly and keep your clients informed: This goes without saying really. We all know how annoying it is to wait days for a response to an email or phone call. It might not always be practical to deal with all customers’ queries within the space of a few hours, but at least email or call them back and let them know you’ve received their message and you’ll contact them about it as soon as possible. Anticipate your client’s needs & go out of your way to help them out: Sometimes this is easier said than done! However, achieving this supreme level of understanding with your clients will do wonders for your working relationship. Honour your promises: It’s possible this is the most important point in this article. The simple message: when you promise something, deliver. The most common example here is project delivery dates. Clients don’t like to be disappointed. Sometimes, something may not get done, or you might miss a deadline through no fault of your own. Projects can be late, technology can fail and sub-contractors don’t always deliver on time. In this case a quick apology and assurance it’ll be ready ASAP wouldn’t go amiss. Be friendly and approachable: Someone once said you can hear a smile through the phone. This is very true. It’s very important to be friendly, courteous and to make your clients feel like you’re their friend and you’re there to help them out. There will be times when you want to beat your clients over the head repeatedly with a blunt object - it happens to all of us. It’s vital that you keep a clear head, respond to your clients’ wishes as best you can, and at all times remain polite and courteous. It should go without saying but all too often people seem to forget just how reassuring a smile is. Follow-up & feed back: It’s your client who’s going to know just how good your services are, so go ahead and ask them. Find out from your customers if they have any complaints or queries. You can either ask individuals or you can design simple questionnaires. And then be sure to act on their advice. Attentive, interested, genuine customer service is still the golden key to the consumer’s heart and wallet. With indifferent, disinterested or detached service, good service and engagement with a customer makes an indelible impression. A customer will return and will value an experience where a sales person, waitress, or service provider welcomed them and demonstrated enthusiasm and an interest in their needs. Customer service personalises the experience and provides reassurance about the purchase decision. Once these are tried, a customer will be satisfied and a satisfied customer will often be a repeat customer. Also, the customer may tell other people and referred them to your business. This means that you not only have a source of continuous business, but you also will get new business. This can save your company money that might be spent on advertising. Contact: eddiemukaaya@yahoo.com
