Customer Care: 8 Tips to Keep Customers Happy
January 20, 2017
Are you taking customer happiness for granted?
Happy customers are something no business should ever take for granted.
To gain market share and mindshare you need happy customers. With customer happiness, you help jump start on SERP rankings, brand sentiment, social media followers, brand advocates and prospects primed to buy.
The customer is always right is not enough.
Just agreeing with a customer is not enough. Businesses need to make sure that customer happiness is a brand value, and this can be done at every touch point. Companies like Zappos and GoDaddy do a great job with instilling a sense of warmth and customer happiness the minute someone calls the company, and companies like Nike and Starbucks utilize social media for quick (and fun) customer service responses.
Romance your customers.
There is more to keeping customers happy than admitting they’re always right. Seeing your connection with customers as a relationship is a good start to maintaining this balance of happiness, though you might want to put the breaks on the chocolates and roses. Like a romantic relationship, customer satisfaction is constant effort to keep customers from moving onto a competitor, and with 89% of customers switching to another vendor if there is an issue with service this is a serious risk. That switch to a competitor is the equivalent of a business-customer relationship breakup.
Communicate and connect.
No one likes a broken (business) heart, so communicate to avoid breakups. Listening to your customers, as well as conveying your intentions, will show them that you genuinely care. Additionally, avoiding overuse of business speak will help increase the feeling of connection customers have with your company. Customers who feel a connection will be happier and less likely to break your heart if there is a mishap down the road.
Be loyal.
Acknowledging brand loyalty is another key component. If people love your brand, reward them. Offer customers deals, always provide top notch service and recognize customers who have been with you through thick and thin. Feeling recognized as a loyal brand-follower makes your customers feel appreciated for purchasing your product and will give them incentive to keep doing so.
Get personal.
Communication and brand loyalty don’t mean much without a personal connection. To sustain this relationship you need to build trust by showing you value the opinions of your customers. No one likes being ignored, especially your customers, and when you implement changes in your business that were based off the opinions of valued customers it shows them you were listening.
Be perky.
Providing perks is a vital element to improved customer happiness. Think of this as the “random surprise bouquet of flowers” part of the customer relationship process. Perks show customers how much businesses value their devotion when they least expect it, and will help build brand loyalty and trust. Different types of perks could range from deals on new products, to free t-shirts and other swag. One of these perks could be providing device charging solutions to help keep customers fully charged and happy.
Happiness for the win.
From goods to services and everything in between, successful businesses need happy customers. If your customers aren’t happy, you won’t be either.
Krassi Popov is a cofounder of Veloxity in Chelmsford, MA, and a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce member. Veloxity rents and sells a full suite of device charging solutions to events, conferences, conventions, trade shows, universities, hospitals, and other venues nationwide. Krassi can be reached at krassi@veloxity.us.