Every month approximately 543,000 new businesses get off the ground. However, more employer businesses shut down each month than starts up, according to Forbes. If you want your business to survive, it takes a lot more than sales. It takes a customer-centered approach before the customer swipes their card (or hits ‘add to cart’).
In fact, 81% of companies who provide great customer experiences and customer satisfaction perform much better than their competitors, according to a report performed by Peppers & Rogers Group. But, how can you improve your chances? Follow these five steps to ensure your business is impressing every customer.
Make an Impression
Nothing is better than a great first impression. This well-known adage isn’t just true on a personal level—it fits into business models everywhere. However, many businesses remain impersonal with their customers. Make your first interaction count by emphasizing your customer greeting strategy.
One way that you can do this is with engraved name tags. This personal touch gives your business a name to the face which is an important part of the communication process. Not to mention that engraved name tags are also an easy conversation starter that both employees and customers can use to their advantage.
Better Your Online Presence
Before a person even visits your storefront or your site, they most likely searched your business online. According to a Bright Local survey, 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, and those reviews impact more than 67%. If your business isn’t online or has a bad online reputation, your chances of users further interacting with your brand are far less likely.
Don’t let your digital presence go to waste. Make sure your business is an active user on every relevant social media platform. Then, update your website to agree with current standards. You should also stay on top of your online reviews. Interact with each review and encourage your customers to post positive reviews on popular review sites.
Get Personal with Email
How does your email strategy look? Do you have a standard messaging system with a low open-rate? Chances are you haven’t used a customer-centered approach in your emails. Whether you are an online store that gathers hundreds of bits of information about site visitors or if you are a local brick-and-mortar store that only uses email during special promotions, there’s still room for improvement. You can best implement this customer-center approach with these tips:
- Respond to every query as soon as possible
- Send emails that include the customer’s name
- Include specific details that appeal to your customers (location-specific information, products, dates, etc.)
- Don’t forget about birthday emails (customers can’t resist a good birthday discount)
Own Up to Your Mistakes
No matter how many good experiences your customers have, one bad experience can feel like a knife to the chest. Instead of trying to prove you aren’t the bad guy, own up to your mistake and try to rectify the situation.
In the digital age, little mistakes can become a big deal when dissatisfied customers turn to the internet to air their grievances. Rather than arguing or deleting the comments, offer a friendly response. Leaving negative feedback or review unanswered shows viewers that you don’t care about your customers’ experiences. In your response be sure to include an apology (“We’re sorry you had this experience…). Then offer a solution.
Focus on the Customer Experience
It is likely that every minute someone is interacting with your brand. If there is any chance of these experiences accumulating towards your business’s success, you have to focus on improving. Encourage your team to delight your customers and to go above and beyond. Reward the employees who step-up.
By focusing on these five steps, you will see an amazing improvement in your business. Get started by updating your customer greeting policy and purchasing engraved name tags for each of your employees. This is a sure-fire way to impress each of your customers.