中小企業が顧客ロイヤルティを向上させるためのヒント – パート 2

While you were busy casting lines, making your catch and reeling them in, technology caught up with you and no we aren’t talking about the advancement in fishing industry. When it comes to businesses, today everything works fine or as fine as it is supposed to work. Consumers are the spoilt children of the new millennia and everything is at their disposal. When everything works this fine that just means more or less, you and your competitors are on the same footing. You can no longer claim that you products or services works better than your competitors as no sooner you add a new feature, your competitors do it too. Claiming to work cheaper is self-depreciating. What differentiate the successful businesses from the less successful ones is the customer services. An organization cannot place enough emphasis on customer service. They are the resources on which the success of an organization depends. Downfall happens when organizations don’t know how to keep their existing customers coming back or don’t place enough importance on keeping the customers. The customer is the foundation of an organization and keeping them happy is a key to any business’s success. Check out some tips below on how you can improve customer loyalty. This is second post in a two-part series exploring ways to improve customer loyalty. If you haven’t gone through the part 1 of the series, you might want to check that out first.

• Focus On Small Details

Little things make big things happen and it couldn’t be truer when it comes to businesses. When it comes to providing customer services, the small details are the things that matter most. Organizations looking to stand apart from their competitors focus so much on the big picture that they often miss the small details. The important thing to remember is the small, seemingly insignificant details have huge impact on good service. More often than not, average firms overlook minor customer inconveniences. In order to build an authentic relationship with your customers, you need to focus on providing a good customer services during pre-purchase, purchase and post purchase phase. When creating a customer service plan, consider the small details which could be provided to your customers in your line of work to stand out in the minds of your customers and focus on these details. It could be as simple as friendly service, over-delivering or value-adds.

• Treat Them Like Insiders

One of the best ways to keep customers loyalty is by treating your customers like insiders. Let them have the inside track and include them in your decisions by asking for feedback. If you are coming up with new product, service line or sale, share it with them first. Let them in on the inside scoop before everyone else and they will stick with you.

• Show That You Care

Most clients may not be able to tell if you have created an excellent app or if your code quality is excellent but they would mostly be able to tell and appreciate a thoughtful working process where they are kept in loop constantly. Surprising most organizations don’t really take care of this detail and then wonder if the client does not return. Show your customers that you care during each phase be it pre-purchase, purchase or post purchase.

• Humanize Your Brand

If you are interacting but not actually engaging you are doing a huge disservice to your own business. Gone are the days when you could send mass emails, messages and still keep customers happy. Today you need to behave like a person rather than an organization. You have a lot of avenues open from social media channels to personalized emails and messages. Behaving more humanly will make your customers feel closer and have a personal connection with your brand.

• Measure It!

Reach out to your customers for feedback to understand what is working and what isn’t. You may feel like your new line of services may be a hit among your customers but your customers may not really like it. Keep in touch with your customers to stay on top of things and adjust accordingly. With direct feedback, get analytics to see if your social media efforts as well as your mailers are working fine. By measuring it, you can take appropriate measures to fix what doesn’t work and continue with what works.

When it comes to businesses, we can get so focused on the daily grind that we often lose sight of important elements. Nurturing relationships with your clients should be the primary focus of your business. Remember that planning is not enough. Your action speaks louder than words. Get out of the ivory tower and show that you really care about your clients. A proven commitment matters much more than a promised one.