Small businesses need to work on customer satisfaction since day one. There are always competitors looking to move in on your customer base and the only way to prevent them from doing so is to provide a better service.
These efforts need to be accompanied by a marketing campaign that promotes both your products and the customer services you provide. The quality of the product isn’t enough, especially with a new and small business that still doesn’t have a customer base.
Talk to your customers
A good company needs to keep track of how their customers are reacting to their products and branding because that’s the only way to improve the customer experience in real time.
This feedback can come from surveys and other forms of direct contact with the customers, or it can be collected via social media and metadata that customers leave online. When a business is using the second method it needs to be honest and upfront about it in order not to alienate their consumers and clients.
Customer support
People call customer support when something unusual or wrong is happening with their product or if there’s a mistake they want to correct. This is a delicate position to be in since you need to address the concerns the customers are calling for, and still maintain your company’s image and brand.
This is a service that needs to be done by the best staffers you have available and their work should be organized as something more than just customer support. It should be seen as a part of a larger marketing strategy and it should be done in cooperation with the marketing team.
Loyalty programs
Small gestures that show that your company cares about their customers can often mean a lot more than expensive and complex marketing campaigns. Sometimes it’s enough to use a Hong Kong prepaid card to provide a bonus for a loyal customer who’s making a lot of purchases or has been with your business for a long time.
Don’t hesitate to make public announcements about such programs or to have public and visible loyal customers’ clubs. Membership cards or closed forums for the customers you decide to reward can do a lot for creating a brand.
Socially responsible business practices
Companies are more than just places of work. They play a larger role in the community and should help worthy causes that will help that community benefit. This isn’t only a morally right thing to do; it’s also useful for the company in terms of marketing and their standing with the customer base.
There’s nothing wrong with being upfront about the causes you support and the ways you support them. This should be done in a manner that’s calling for others to contribute as well. The customers and clients can also contribute by helping you find additional causes you can back.
Don’t be afraid of change
Customer services and therefore customer satisfaction isn’t something that can be fixed and arranged once and for all. In fact, it can always be improved and doing so is the only way to make sure your company makes a long-lasting impact.
Many businesses are afraid to change things up too often because that’s both expensive and it may come off as you not having a clear strategy for your marketing efforts, but it’s a mistake to be rigid. Customer services and marketing efforts need to adapt whenever there’s a need for it.
Improving customer satisfaction takes a lot of work and it mostly depends on knowing your customers beforehand. Businesses that make the effort usually find that it pays off.
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Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is a coauthor on several websites and regular contributor to BizzMark Blog. Currently, he is working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies.
