In this article we look at some basic ideas of how your business can retain your customers;

Customer Service

Consistently providing great customer service is no easy task, but it is worth the effort to improve this side of your business. According to the PWC statistics, it only takes one bad experience to drive 32% of your customers away. Some stats even showed that a staggering 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a good customer service experience. With this in mind, how can you improve your customer service to appease customers?

First think about your current support – is there customer contact number available 24/7? If not, do you have a way for customers to leave a message and get a follow-up response e.g. an email form? Once you understand how you’re currently performing against the necessary support your customers need, you can then prioritise areas to improve.

Responding to Complaints

Esteban Kolsky found 72% of customers will go on to share a positive customer service experience with six or more people, but if they’re not happy, roughly 13% of them will share a negative experience with 15 or more people. Word of mouth is important.

You can’t please everyone but the way you handle their complaints and problems will determine what experience they have with you making your response the deciding point of their loyalty.

Not only is it beneficial for them, it can also help you find holes in your service/product that you need to address. There is always room for improvement.

Communication

Communicating with your clients/customers is a key part in building a relationship. useing top quality phone lines and memorable or Freephone numbers is an example of improved communication. There is nothing worse than trying to talk to an operator over a bad phone line and not being able to understand what is being said. This could lead to frustration and loss of customer loyalty.

A simple fix would be to use a Virtual Landline, you can get a memorable 0800 number to make phoning your company more inviting, as well as using the free VoIP app to ensure you get a top quality connection on both inbound and outbound calls. As previously mentioned in ‘Customer Service’, you can also ensure you never miss a customer’s request again by using the voicemail to email feature to make your customer enquiries more accessible to your employees.

Contact us for help on picking the right virtual number package for you.

Personal Response

Any size business can benefit from word of mouth and good recommendations. They can be simple to get but you must listen to what your customer is asking of you and find the right solution to keep them happy.

Ensuring a quick response time to messages and business phone calls will help make customers feel supported. Trying up-sell customers during every communication could do more harm than good to the relationship especially if they are angry or upset from a current issue.

Follow Up

It’s very important to follow up with your customers after a problem or conversation has been ‘ended’. Around 68% of customers leave a company because they feel uncared for after they’ve made a complaint, this just shows that directly engaging with them in a positive way can make all the difference. A simple follow up email asking for an opinion or hoping they have solved their problem could make all the difference.

This after care can also highlight your companies personal service, and let your customers know you care about their opinion and their loyalty. Make your customers feel valued.

Simple steps can be taken to avoid a high customer turnover for your business, no matter how big or small, it is always important to remember that customer service is key and can make or break your success.