What are we doing to make sure every new customer to our business has a good reason to return?
In these days of elusive customer loyalty its critical to find ways to maximise the number of customers who keep coming back.
As a consumer, have you ever experienced that warm fuzzy moment of “wow” ??? I think we all have. That rare feel good moment, expectation exceeded, without even knowing we had any expectation in the first place.
Why is it so hard to deliver to every customer that engages with our business? Have we forgotten how to treat the very people who can make our businesses successful?
Having the customer mindset switched on every day is critical, but as I’ve found working with hundreds of my small business clients, its most importantly about your staff. The people who greet your customers first, either face to face or on the phone. Owners who employ the wrong people for customer-facing positions are surely destroying their opportunity, in about 30 seconds flat.
Here are my 5 tried and tested strategies to maximising the customer loyalty opportunity …
· Take great care to employ the right people – good people skills and a positive attitude are not “optional extras”.
· Continually train your people to know exactly the level of customer service you expect.
· Lead by example – good staff will follow your style.
· Attend to all customer complaints with urgency. Don’t let customers have the time to dwell on a bad experience. Beware, many customers won’t complain, they simply won’t come back.
· Ask for customers’ suggestions – you may not implement everything they suggest but you’ll make them feel valued.
Get those 5 little things right and you’re well on your way to a significantly better repeat customer rate in 2020. And by the way you may also be surprised at the additional payoff in average spend.
