Keeping your customers satisfied, happy and coming back are the keys to growing your business and generating more revenue. When your customers are satisfied, they are likely to return more often, tell others and help you bring in more prospects to increase sales.
However, keeping your customers happy is easier said than done, as even established businesses that have been successful in the past struggle with this challenge from time to time. When working with my clients, I find that the key to their success is to be customer-focused rather than company-centric, which means putting the needs and wants of your customers first and making it a priority.
For this, you have to really get to know your customers, be acquainted with their preferences. Do you know the benefits that you offer to help solves their problems, bring them joy, make it easier or satisfy the needs of your target audience and know the solutions they seek. This paves the way for you to tailor your offerings to meet the expectations of your customers and foster lasting relationships.
Here are five useful tips that have been successful with some of my clients to help improve customer focus:
- Talk To Your Customers and Ask Questions
The best way to know what your customers want is by simply asking them. It’s reported that 80% of customer are likely to prefer businesses that offer them personalized experiences. So, it’s best to reach out to your customers and ask for information that can help you come up with offerings tailored to meet their specific and personal needs.
There are many ways you can do this. However, the most common and effective way to get the required information from your customers is through surveys. Conducting a survey with your customers allows you to know how happy they are with what you offer. Plus, you can be aware of their perception of your brand in general. Yes we know surveys can be very effective but if you are like me we are tired of getting surveys for everything. Who likes receiving annoying phone calls or having your email or text messages be overwhelmed with businesses asking for your opinion? Frankly, I just delete them and not even bother.
Why not talk to your customers and directly ask them about what they like or dislike, which makes it easier for you to identify the problems and make necessary improvements to your solutions. You can do this by walking around your business while they are shopping your store, eating at your restaurant, visiting your area, utilizing your services, etc. This way, you will be able to receive immediate personalized feedback to channel your focus and resources in the right direction and get the optimal yield from your efforts.
- Think Outside the Box and Try New Things
There is nothing wrong with sticking to tried-and-tested methods. Introduce new features or offer deals that you haven’t before. Surprise your customers with new things and see what works for you. This helps you know what makes your customers excited and allows you to come up with viable strategies the next time around.
- Work To Improve Team Coordination
Try to improve coordination among different teams and departments and ensure that no one works in silos. Being customer-focused demands interaction among different departments and great teamwork to make sure that you offer seamless experiences. Lack of coordination among different teams may interrupt the flow of information and prevent you from offering solutions capable of meeting your customers’ expectations and experience.
Have you ever tried calling a support department of an organization such as the accounting or billing department, parts department or shipping and found that they were not as helpful and friendly as the sales clerk or manager who sold you the product. It kind of puts a damper on the experience doesn’t it?
Therefore, you should strive towards cross-channel customer department engagement and make sure that all concerned departments work as a single unit to continue to create seamless magical experiences that will separate your business from the competition.
- Use The Information That You Have And Know About Your Customers
Making decisions bases on good information is always a plus when it comes to being customer-focused and meeting your customers’ expectations. Knowing what worked for you in the past, analyzing your customers’ buying history, and assessing their purchase intentions can pave the way for you to make informed decisions and tailor your offerings accordingly. Not all of your customers are the same. So, with the help of information you can get an idea of what they want and make the most of up-selling or cross-selling opportunities.
- Get Your Employees Involved In The Process
As said earlier, achieving customer focus should be every one on your team’s joint effort. It requires strong collaboration among teams and cohesive efforts. Make sure everyone understands that their sole purpose is making customers happy and ensuring that they are customer focused.
Many employees and businesses get lost in the daily struggle of doing tasks and not focusing on customer focused priorities to meets its customers’ expectations. Your employees and teams need to make sure that everything aligns with satisfying your customers so that you can attract new customers, maximize customer satisfaction, and significantly reduce customers from leaving your business. It increases your customer lifetime value significantly and allows you to foster a relatable business brand image.
Final Words
So there you have it: the five tips that I have used to help my clients improve their customer focus. If you need more customers and business and have been finding it difficult to prioritize the needs or preferences of your customers or event design your very own magical customer experience in your business, hopefully this will help. If you would like more help or interested in valuable and productive training for your leaders and team to be able to implement these strategies and more, schedule a FREE Discovery Session Call with me today. I would be delighted to assist you in any way to help you achieve the results you want this year.
John Formica is America’s Customer Experience Coach, team culture expert, keynote speaker, and Top 10 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on Customer Loyalty. For information on customer experience programs, leadership training, team culture, business growth, how to find and hire great people and tailored training programs just for you or to book John, contact 704-965-4090 or visit our website at JohnFormica.com.