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New Year's Resolution: Improve Customer Satisfaction

If you�ve already set your personal resolutions for 2011, perhaps you should consider making some additional ones in regards to your business and your customers.

Did you know...

  • The average company loses 10% of its customers each year. Some reports indicate the figure is even higher.

  • Acquiring new customers can cost five times more than satisfying and retaining current customers.

  • A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect on profits as cutting costs by 10%.

  • A 5% reduction in customer defection rate can increase profits by 25-125%, depending on the industry.

  • The customer profitability rate tends to increase over the life of a retained customer.

    • www.1000ventures.com

Here are just a few of many ways to avoid these things happening to your business:

  1. Listen. Often, this seems to be the easiest (and cheapest) thing to do, but it�s often neglected or forgotten. Ask and you probably will receive an answers.

  2. Treat them the way you want to be treated. Your parents were right about this one. Put yourself in the customer�s shoes and ask yourself, �Is this the way I would want to be treated?�

  3. Make the needs of your customers your most important priority. By sharing the same vision and the same needs with your employees, they�ll be able to deliver exactly what the customers want.

  4. Engage & follow up. The service and attention you provide after selling your product/service can determine if they will be a return customer, or even a lifelong customer. John Fleming and James Harter write in the Harvard Business Review that �Fully engaged customers deliver 23% premium over the average customer in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue and relationship growth.�

  5. Happy employees = happy customers. This is especially true for customer-facing businesses because your employees are the faces of your brand. It�s natural for your employees to treat your customers in the same way that management treats the employees.

In times when business has become harder to come by, it has become more important than ever to retain your customers and keep them happy. Take customer complaints you receive along the way as a way to strengthen your relationship with the disgruntled customer as well as with other customers. After all, if they took the time to express their grievances, that means they are still interested in your product/service. If you lose a customer, think of it as an opportunity to learn and to make positive changes that will affect your current customers. (Check out our Response360 tracking service for more information.) Remember, don�t get caught up in the day-to-day activities and forget to communicate with your customers and the employees that serve them.

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