Help Customers Feel Valued by Responding to Feedback

Engaging with your customer as a company is one of the single most important things you can do. It sounds simple enough, yet this process requires an entire department in most corporations. Various customer engagement tasks could include:

• Acquisition
• Support
• Reviews
• Retention
• Loyalty-building

With so many things to do, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Luckily for you, we have an organized and easy-to-follow pathway to customer satisfaction: help each customer feel valued and important.

From Paying Drone to Valued Customer

Accumulating committed and satisfied customers is the best thing you can do for your business. When your customers feel like their wants and needs matter, they usually become committed to your brand. And just like dissatisfied customers, committed ones aren’t shy about sharing their feelings. These people will likely become invaluable ambassadors to your brand.

But you won’t achieve anything by remaining indifferent to your general clientele. Poor service is never good for your image, but neither is general apathy. You should never forget that each customer has a high status. They are looking to use your services, which makes their opinions tantamount.

Customers expect special attention and courtesy, whether they’re buying a taco or a townhouse. This feeling is universal, so you better make sure you’re living up to expectations. Companies that stand out from the rest view and treat their customers as real people, not just another faceless name on a list.

Showing You Care

Here are some steps to help your customers feel important and worthwhile, whether online or in person:

• Acknowledge their presence: there is nothing worse than walking into a store with a clerk who couldn’t care less about you being there.
• Say “thank you” and mean it: sincere gratitude for their business will help them know they matter.
• Remember their name: this will help you connect on a personal level and show that you care who they are.
• Respect their time: because they can never get it back, so make it worth their while.
• Validate and respond to concerns: even if it’s something small, prove that you will do your best to resolve their concern.

In order to retain customers in the long run, the last step is perhaps the most important, because it helps customers have a say. But, the only way to validate and respond to concerns or opinions is to ask for them in the first place.

Obtaining Customer Feedback

There are several ways to find out what customers think of your products and services. However, some avenues are more effective than others. Here are some reliable communication forms:

• Personal customer surveys
• Short feedback forms
• Focus groups
• Online discussion boards

No matter which feedback tool you choose, remember to make it convenient, actionable, and clear. Avoid surveys or feedback forms that are long or convoluted. Remember to value customers’ time by making it short and easy to use.

Likewise, ask questions that will provide usable feedback. Instead of asking how satisfied they were with your service, ask what you can do to make it better. And lastly, always specify the reason you’re asking for feedback. If you are responding to a specific issue, let them know at the beginning of your survey. Customers appreciate knowing the purpose and goals behind their time spent. The clearer you can be, the better.

Once you’ve gathered valuable and actionable feedback, you’ll be able to:

• Identify dissatisfied customers
• Fix reoccurring problems
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Discover potential brand ambassadors

It’s also important to remember that each customer will express themselves in different ways. This may require some deciphering, but it’s worth the time. Keep an eye out for patterns or problems that happen to multiple people. Once identified, address those issues head-on, and then let customers know when they’re fixed. In addition, make sure you are listening to all feedback. Acknowledge the good with the bad, and use negative feedback to better your company.

Getting Support for Customer Engagement

It’s normal to feel overwhelmed with the responsibility of customer engagement. Rather than handling it all by yourself, consider outsourcing your customer service. If you find the right company, you’ll get the support and manpower you need to make every customer feel valued.

Do some research to find the right fit. Look for a company that will consider your aims and goals, while giving a strong impression of your specific brand. Useful services include inbound and outbound telephone service, web chat, and email response. Above all, make sure that your chosen company has a fast customer response.

Overall, your customers should be your priority. Don’t get lost in always trying to get new customers. Instead, focus on keeping the ones you have and building their loyalty. Committed customers are a powerful tool to increase customer acquisition, so don’t underestimate them. Instead, invest in an outsourced customer service base for professional and cost-effective customer engagement.