You can’t replace customers who cease their patronage. Even if you pick up new customers, you’ll always maintain a “minus mark” in the total number of customers box.
Be mindful of a universal business truth: whatever issues drive one customer away are likely driving others out the door.
Stay aware of this truth to keep customers happy about their experiences. Otherwise, business will continue to struggle with departing, unhappy customers. You need insights into customer satisfaction. Thankfully, six substantial ways exist to measure that satisfaction.
1.) Ask the Customers How They Feel
Yes, directly asking a customer how he/she feels usually leads to an honest answer. Pleased customers will let their feelings known. Someone irked at poor service will probably cut loose when asked.
So, after ringing a customer up at the cash register or filling out a service contract, ask the customer about their satisfaction level. Listen carefully to the response and never act dismissive. The customer tells all when given the chance.
2.) Send Customers a Survey
Ask your customers to fill out a basic customer satisfaction survey. Printing up a written survey and handing to customers works. So does sending an email version.
Some may invest in a recorded phone survey setup. No matter how the form gets to someone, positive things may come from their responses.
3.) Take Advantage of Customer Relation Management Software
Customer relationship management software makes interacting with clients and buyers much more streamlined. Imagine shuffling between tons of papers, ledgers, and spreadsheets to keep tabs of buyers and sellers at a real estate office. CRM for real estate agents provides several applications designed to put many duties in one place. Of course, CRM programs exist for scores of different business sectors. Regardless of the industry, CRM software helps.
4.) Look Carefully at Social Media Comments
Business owners find social media pages deliver an effective means of promotions. Posting on social media gets messages to past, present, and future customers. Sometimes, those customers like to comment on threads. Don’t ignore the comments. Customers reveal a lot about how pleased or disappointed they are. Maybe follow up on complaints with private messages in an attempt to assist the customer.
5.) Take Ratings Seriously
All those popular online consumer sites give customers a means to rank businesses anywhere from one to five stars. If your overall rating is 4.7, you definitely please a lot of customers. What if the rating is a decent 3.3? You’re doing something right, but some of those ratings are lackluster. Narrow down the percentage of not-so-great ratings. If the percentage appears unusually high, take steps to address the discontent.
6.) Examine Common Themes in Online Reviews
Don’t only look at the “thumbs up and thumbs down” aspect of online reviews. Check out common points mentioned in both good and bad reviews. Doing so reveals areas where you consistently do the right and wrong things. Avoid changing things currently pleasing customers. With deficiencies, locate them and then work on improvements. Hopefully, this will reduce or outright eliminate the trouble spots.
