Business executives and managers understand that happy customers are the key to strong profits, so it follows that the majority of businesses have employed customer satisfaction surveys to learn how to improve their customers’ experiences. Unfortunately, some companies may not understand customer surveys best practices. Thus, they may fail to effectively gather useful information about…
If your business revolves around customers, then the success of your business is a direct result of their satisfaction. When a customer is satisfied with the experience, service, or product you provide, that customer is more likely to return and also more likely to recommend you to others. Likewise, an unhappy customer is unlikely to…
When business owners, executives, and managers want to learn more about their customers’ experiences, it is not uncommon for them to ask customers for their insight by writing and issuing a survey. Taking initiative in this manner is admirable, but these individuals are often too close to the issue to ask the right questions and…
Customer satisfaction is the key to a company’s success. Satisfied customers place larger and more frequent orders, while unsatisfied customers rarely return to place additional orders if they can find another source. Understanding which aspects of your product, brand, and business processes contribute to customer satisfaction and which erode customer loyalty can help you become…
Nothing has a bigger impact on your company’s profitability than customer satisfaction. Every increase in your satisfaction rating translates directly into larger and more frequent orders, and positive word of mouth attracts even more customers. The best way to measure customer satisfaction and to discover how to improve customer satisfaction is by using customer satisfaction…
Many companies don’t know how to measure customer satisfaction, although most companies agree that customer satisfaction is an important factor in profitability and increasing revenue. The best way to gauge customer satisfaction is with a well-designed, professionally administered customer satisfaction survey. Surveying customers about their satisfaction is more complex than it might appear at first.…
No one is immune to mistakes, but some mistakes have more severe consequences than others. For businesses, one of the worst consequences of errors is lost customers. But sometimes it is hard to know why customers have left and even harder to bring them back. It is during these times that it is more important than ever to…
Customer satisfaction is one of the cornerstones of success for any business. When customers are dissatisfied, they will let their friends and family know, but often not the business. Also, when they are happy, they are more likely to keep that information to themselves unless the business takes the time to ask by conducting a…
Customer surveys offer companies unique insights into customer satisfaction and how to improve the customer experience. However, conducting the customer research is only the first step to improving your company. Once the research results have come in, business leaders and those in marketing must analyze the results and then implement an action plan to effect…
Customer surveys are a great tool for learning more about how to improve an organization. Sadly, many companies neglect the potential benefits that come from using a professional to analyze their survey results. Here are five benefits that companies can depend upon when they use trained personnel to interpret their survey data. 1. Identification of…
When you are working to improve your business, employee surveys and customer surveys provide important data, but have you considered also employing a survey focus group to dig deeper into your survey data? A focus group can provide invaluable information concerning sentiments throughout your company and customer base. Surveys and focus groups are both valuable…
Running a successful business is largely dependent upon how you develop relationships with customers, how you maintain and grow those relationships, and how you seek out new connections. Whether you are selling a product or a service, your customers include both consumers and other businesses you seek to partner with. Because of this, it is…
There are customers, and then there are brand proponents. Customers might come to a site or store and purchase a product, but then never use the company again and never tell their friends about it. Brand proponents, on the other hand, are so impressed with a company that they go out and tell everyone about…
When you’re running a business, there are a lot of variables that you can control: how many employees you hire, what hours to keep your doors open, and how to approach your advertising and marketing campaigns. How customers react to your business decisions is a different story. It is impossible to predict how your decisions…
Consumer Behavior What exactly is “consumer behavior” and what kind of impact does it have on your business’s financial success? Consumer behavior is something that is studied by a research professional. Psychologists and statisticians then analyze the data and turn it into actionable advice for a company or business. For example, a research professional may…
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the success or failure of your company depends upon the level of customer service you provide. Satisfied customers may recommend you to two or three people, while one disgruntled customer can log on to social media and steer thousands of people away from doing business with you. One…
The value of customer satisfaction cannot be ignored, and customer surveys are an effective means of ensuring client retention. After all, it costs less to keep a happy client than it does to replace one. The use of a customer survey does more than measure customer satisfaction; it serves as a useful tool that provides…
How do you find out if a customer is satisfied or dissatisfied with their experience at your business? Unless you take the time and effort to reach out to your customers, give them a call, or send them an email, you don’t. The truth is, most customers will simply let issues or positive experiences go…
Customer surveys provide business leaders with critical input from their customers concerning products, service, and employee behavior. It’s no big secret customer surveys hold real power in a customer-business relationship. The customer decides which services and products that they buy from you and which they buy from a competitor, and it is imperative for business…
Customer satisfaction surveys measure how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectations. These surveys are instrumental in predicting whether the customer will return and spend more, therefore impacting your financial performance. Composing an effective customer satisfaction survey may seem straightforward, but it takes insight into the customers’ habits and their…
Organizations often refer to customer service as a “cost center,” or a branch of their business that does not produce a return on investment. Many companies believe that no matter how much time, money, and training they put into their customer service that there is no way of knowing if the effort is worthwhile. Therefore,…
Customer-facing employees have heard their fair share of conversations about customer service and customer experience. What does either term really mean, and how do they influence each other? Customer experience is the term used to describe a consumer’s holistic experience from beginning to end. This term covers the customer’s initial awareness of a company’s services…
Here is a staggering statistic about customer service: 78 percent of bad customer service experiences prevent a transaction from being completed. That is a large portion of revenue lost over situations that are avoidable. Ask any business that prides itself on its customer service and you’ll get a long laundry list of how to implement…
Yelp.com is a review site that relies on customer submissions to rate the products and services of local businesses. This platform has grown substantially in the last five years. Some businesses have taken an interest in Yelp reviews, but there are plenty that are ignoring them at their own peril. Customer reviews can be extremely…
A positive and unsolicited customer service review is the Holy Grail that every company tries to obtain again and again. Reviews through word of mouth from a respected source, passed among friends or relatives, can greatly influence customers’ purchasing decisions. Customer service is a primary factor that causes consumers to return, so a company needs…
Think of customer service like a first date. One wrong word can have either party second guessing the decision to spend time together. Customers react to your brand in the same way. In both scenarios there are often other circumstances that can affect the quality of the experience – like a bad day. You shouldn’t…
One of the top customer service complaints is wait time. People simply do not like to wait. It’s not that we lack patience, but that we enjoy instantaneous satisfaction. Companies know that quickly solving customer problems is important on several fronts. However, it’s the sweet spot between knowing it and doing it well where many…
Perfecting customer service is a process. A company doesn’t get it right on the first try even with all of the available tools and resources. That is because customer service is unique to a company and the products or services it supplies. It takes persistence and constant refining to develop a strategy that will work for your…
Think of your favorite family-owned business. Growing up it might have been the convenience store on the corner or the diner down the street. Despite consolidation and competition from big businesses, mom-and-pop shops are still around – and thriving. Show Your Passion Spend any amount of time with a small business owner and they might…
Over the last 10 years we have seen a number of social media platforms emerge and evolve into something more than just another way to communicate with friends. Today, brands use social media to create and maintain customer relationships and as part of their customer service strategies. Customers want their problems solved quickly and long…
Engaged employees who are passionate about your business is any manager’s dream. However, it is not possible to create a list of standards and mold the ideal engaged employee. So, how do you know if you’ve found an engaged employee who is focused on customer service? Ask your customers! They will tell you if you’ve found the right person…
What are the characteristics of a customer service-focused company? Business owners have asked themselves this question, spent hours researching it, and maybe thousands of dollars trying to answer it. There’s no question that companies who master customer service enjoy success in other areas of their business – including customer longevity and brand loyalty. Take a…
There are many lessons to be learned by studying the human mind and its functions in relation to customer service. Each person in a customer service interaction, both the customer and the company representative, have their own motivations, frame of reference, emotional triggers, and desired outcome. In an ideal world, both would be respectful and…
“I literally hate customers more than anything in the entire world. I hate them so much. They’re terrible. It’s all about them all the time and they demand everything.” These are the words that got a Boston Market employee fired on a recent episode of “Undercover Boss” on CBS. In the episode, the company’s Chief…
Your business is all about giving. You’re constantly giving, from the goods you offer to the customer service you provide, every day to every customer. And that’s a good thing because that’s why customers are coming to you. But don’t discount the value that your customers can give to you. Look forward to receiving “gifts”…
In 2012, as football fans across the country lined up in front of their flat screens to watch Super Bowl XLVI, a team of marketers from Coca-Cola prepared for kickoff of the Polar Bowl. Promoted during and prior to the game on Facebook, Twitter, and through traditional media advertising, the Polar Bowl was a live…
Every business sells either products or services – that’s what makes it a business. Everything a company does is structured to encourage more sales so that the company can thrive. That can include slashing prices to drive more people to the business to make a purchase. However, that approach can have collateral damage, as service…
A recent article in Time discusses the trending topic of Customer Service. The article cites recent studies showing that CEOs and executives are finally catching on to the importance of customer service and are starting to make it a priority. The author states: Wait, why in the world would it be necessary for these concepts…
Customers don’t anticipate being blown away by the experience when they make a purchase. They drop by the store, or visit a website, make their purchase, and continue on to their next task. It’s usually an uneventful experience. But when the shopping trip does become memorable, customers will not forget. The market is tough for…
The stockings have disappeared from the mantles. The tinsel and lights are stowed in the attic. The gifts are all unwrapped, and the fruitcake has all been eaten. Now that the 2012 holiday season has ended, the retail industry is evaluating the sales figures and looking forward to what 2013 might bring. Total sales for…
On a personal level, we all know how easy it is to fall into a routine. We follow routines each day: from waking up in the morning to turning on the coffee pot and so on. Businesses also have routines, which can lead to shortcuts and oversights without close monitoring. Your company may be slipping…
2013 is the International Year of Statistics according to the American Statistical Association. Bloomberg speculates 2013 will be the Year of Retail Turnaround. Forbes says 2013 will be the Year of the Gold Rush thanks to the increased popularity of crowdfunding. Internet marketing professionals have declared it the year of the Online Writer. What will…
Training is an integral part of a company’s success. In some companies, customer service training takes a month or more. Only then is an employee set loose on their own. The effectiveness of the training determines the amount of success new employees in customer service roles will have. A poor customer service training regimen, left…
Your company had a great year last year. You exceeded your goals and expectations on the front lines and on the financial charts. You built a base of enthusiastic, engaged customers through hard work and great customer service. You obviously couldn’t have had the year you had without your customers. The question is: do your…
Companies devote considerable resources to training employees and providing superior customer-facing materials, such as a website, to ensure that customers are satisfied. But what kind of impression are you making when you aren’t “saying” anything? Your customer service doesn’t stop at words – it is sending strong cues about your business at all hours of…
According to a recent survey, nearly half of customers who quit doing business with a company do so because of poor customer service. The company hasn’t done anything in particular to make them angry, but they haven’t done anything in particular to make them happy, either. The lure of new customer incentives, a disconnect between…
From childhood to entering the workforce, we’re constantly listening. At a young age, it was obvious that there was a lot to learn! At school, experts in a wide variety of subjects gave us feedback on our work. When we joined the workforce, our mentors guided us and taught us the ropes so we could…
Imagine walking into a restaurant and instead of being handed a menu, you are handed a tablet device. On the device is an interactive menu with photos of the food selections and suggested wine pairings. You make your selections directly on the device, the food is delivered to your table, at the end of the…
Did you fulfill your New Year’s resolutions? If you are among the majority, chances are you set big personal goals for yourself at the beginning of the year such as losing weight or getting organized. And as the year progressed, you likely forgot about those goals. Day-to-day life got in the way and the focus…
Customer service has taken many twists and turns throughout the years. Competition is fierce, and the battle for customers is strong. When a company slips up, and has an unsatisfied customer on their hands, competitors eagerly wait for the other shoe to drop so that they can claim them for their own. Because of this,…