Providing a “Magical” customer experience is not a choice or a luxury. It is next battle ground where businesses will be won or lost. The customer experience can win you many new leads, referrals and customer loyalty or you can go broke depending on how the experience goes.
While spending time reviewing and evaluating many of my client’s customer experiences in their business, I find that some of them have implemented good practices. However, I often discover opportunities and mistakes that they are making that can affect their customer experience and business in a negative way.
Often, small businesses are lulled into a false sense of security by seeing fairly successful results, but what I find is very little client relationships taking place. In the long run their business might not be so profitable. Particularly if their competition increases.
Let’s look at some of the most common customer experience mistakes and what you and your team can do to fix them.
- Lack of Responsiveness– Whether you like it or not, you need to be in constant contact with your customers. Whenever or wherever they write to you, they expect you to answer them as soon as possible and they don’t like excuses why you didn’t. Also, make sure you respond in the manner they like best. In other words if they called you, call them back. I they use email, text or social media use that platform to respond. Respond and act as quickly as possible, even if you are not prepared to answer or solve their request at the time. Please respond with a short comment and acknowledge them.
2. Lack of Staff Training or Having the Right Amount of People – You can’t create a Magical Customer Experience if you don’t have the right people all dedicated and engaged in taking care of the customer. Do you look at staff training as an investment or an expense in your business or team? Smart and profitable businesses are always investing in their people to maintain the results they want. Under staffing may be a great way to save on expenses for your budget, but it can have a big impact on the customer experience and your business. If there is no one present to handle client questions, requests, feedback, complaints or transactions, resulting in a poor customer experience, it is most likely you will lose customers and their loyalty to your competition.
3. Lack of Taking Your Customers Feedback Seriously or With a Sense Of Urgency – You probably can’t make every customer’s wishes come true, however, you should take each and every one of their wishes seriously. It may identify a flaw in your business that you can correct right away. I always tell my coaching clients and audiences when I speak that, customer feedback and their complaints are actually gifts. By taking them seriously, you are showing your customers that their opinions matter and that you care. Your customers will feel appreciated and show bigger loyalty to your business and spread the good word.
4. Lack of Building Relationships With Your Customers – Most businesses and staff are busy with tasks and dealing with requests and spend very little time on trying to build relationships with their customers. Particularly after the sale. But keeping in touch with your customers after the sale, complaint or just staying in touch, will help build higher customer awareness and relationships with your customers.
5. Lack of Consistent Customer Experience – The customer experience that you deliver to your customers should be consistent and flawless as possible. Every business should be willing to constantly work on it, evaluate it, talk about it with their staff and see how you can make it even more “magical” in the eyes of your customers. If your experience is not consistent, your customers will be confused and place doubt on whether they should continue to do business with you or your competition.
So how is your business and team doing with this list? If you are doing well congratulation! Never stop striving for perfection and making “magic” in your business. If you need help with these issues or others with your team or your business, feel free to contact me for a FREE Discovery call. I would be delighted in to help you in anyway. Remember to…Always Make It Magical!