7 Principles of Great Customer / Client Experiences

Customer Service, Reliability, Efficiency, Quality

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This is a guest post written by Camille McClane, who is honored to have this opportunity to share her knowledge of how businesses can improve their own customer and client experiences.

As a business owner, you know how important the customer is to you. After all, without customers and clients, you would most likely be out of business. With that being said, it is up to you to do everything possible to make your clients feel welcomed, respected and heard.

Here are some tips on developing great experiences for your customers, time and time again:

1. The Experience

When selling anything, it is essential that you understand what you need to be selling: the experience. You need to create an experience for the customer as soon as they walk through the door to final purchase or until the service is completed- you have to make them feel that they are becoming a part of something exclusive and grand. You not only want to meet your customers’ expectations, but exceed them.

The way you conduct yourself, cater to your customer’s needs and how you showcase a product or service are all ways to promote a positive experience. You can make a lasting impression this way too, one that can mean gaining a loyal customer.

2. Respect

Treat your customers like family. Naturally, people can be frustrating at times, even within our own families. Because they are trying to advocate for their needs, there are bound to be times when we clash with each other. Regardless, this does not keep us from treating them with respect, and you must treat your customers the same. Even when faced with a frustrated customer, cater to their needs and give them a positive experience, and be respectful and understanding.

Along with respecting your clients’ opinions, it is also necessary to respect their time. You want to give them as much time as they need to voice out their problems. In the same light, do not unnecessarily contact your clients – for instance, you can save the time of both your customers and your business by sending minor updates via automated email or smart phone messages.

3. Ask For Feedback

You can get feedback from your clients to further improve your customer service by having your clients fill out a “How are we doing?” form. Since your sales representatives have one-on-one interactions with the customers, request their feedback as to how to better serve future customers.

Moreover, you can utilize the services of software to obtain such feedback – the software collects information from the customers, sends the information to the respective departments, and the proper departments can get back to the customers acknowledging the feedback and sharing what they have done to address the concerns.

You can further assess your efficiency by measuring referrals, the number of repeat customers as well as the number of complaints. In addition, track your top 20% of sales as another means of measuring customer satisfaction. Are your customers staying loyal? Are sales declining or growing?

4. Catch Errors Before Your Customers Do

Sometimes a customer won’t even notify you if they are having a problem with your service – instead, they will immediately move on to a different company. As a business, needless to say, you want to stay on top of things, meaning you must catch errors or problems before they occur so you can keep your customers happy. http://www.forbes.com/sites/aileron/2012/11/15/the-10-keys-of-excellent-customer-service/

5. Accountability

If issues lie with a certain department, that department needs to be notified immediately about the concerns. Moreover, they need to take responsibility for their actions and handle the situation accordingly.

Make sure to address concerns right away- you want to show your customers that you are on their side and working with them.

6. Availability

To ensure longevity between the customer and client, you need to be available for your customers. Design a website that clearly displays your customer service number, hours of operation and how customers can contact you after your hours of operation. Ensure that the directions on your customer service number are concise and easy to follow.

7. Internal Support

As a business, an important aspect of great external customer service is to have great internal customer service as well. It is important that employees work in a communicative workspace where they can have their concerns voiced as well, helping them care for external customers efficiently as possible.