Market research in India shows that the customer experience leaders have significantly more loyal customers than customer experience laggards

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Market research  in India shows that the customer experience leaders have significantly more loyal customers than customer experience laggards. On average they have 15% more customers willing to buy from them, an equal percentage of customers reluctant to switch away from them and likely to recommend them.

An improvement in customer experience can easily translate into a major chunk of your incremental annual revenues. As senior executives recognize this connection between customer experience and business results, they’ll increasingly jump on the customer experience bandwagon.

Unfortunately, customer experience doesn’t fall neatly into a single function. It requires a member of the executive team to champion a cross-functional initiative. That’s a great place for a marketing director to step in.

The Three Golden Rules Of Customer Experience

I work with a lot of executives leading these efforts and often recommend that they adopt “experience-based differentiation” (EBD) as their blueprint for success. EBD is built on three key principles:

1. Obsess about customer needs, not product features. Rather than racing to bring new product features to market, companies need to refocus on the needs of their customers–who might even want fewer features or completely different offerings. 

2. Reinforce the brand with every interaction, not just communications. One bad experience has more influence on a customer than a lifetime of traditional brand messaging. That’s why the brand needs to be reinforced at every customer touchpoint. 

3. Treat customer experience as a competence, not a function. Delivering great customer experiences isn’t something that a small group of people can do on their own–everyone in the company needs to be fully engaged in the effort. 

With that in mind, providing good customer service to your clients should naturally be a major priority in your day-to-day schedule.Here are 20 best practices to develop superior customer service that will also attract new customers:

1. Respond to Clients as Soon as Possible

Speed is everything, especially when a client is requesting something that’s time sensitive. When you respond to your clients swiftly, they are satisfied and will hold nothing back at recommending your brand.

2. Keep Clients Updated

Let your customers know what you’re working on and how things are progressing, give them reinforcement that they’re involved. Hence, you must bring your customers up to date – always.

3. Show Them You Care

Put your customers first. It’s rare to find good customer support, but you can get a jump on the competition and attract new customers by focusing on this crucial area of your business. Show them you really care and you will earn their patronage.

4. Listen Carefully

Do you clearly understand the needs of your customer? Listening intensely to what they have to say creates a great rapport.

5. Understand Your Customer’s Needs and Meet Them

Listen to the “voice of the customer” and take action accordingly. Listening to customers can be done in many ways. For example, using feedback forms and satisfaction surveys. Listen to ensure decisions benefit the customer as much as your company.

6. Be Consistent

Customers expect consistent quality of service. Acting nice today and acting nasty another day will only scare your customers away. Be consistent and follow through. Let them know that consistency is really what you are about.

7. Open Communication Channels

The customer wants to contact you in many ways – face to face, by mail, phone, fax, and email – and will expect all of these communication channels to be open and easily accessible. Therefore, put in place adequate measures to be reached when you are needed.

8. Reward Customers

Put in place an adequate reward system for your customers. When you do this, you increase the confidence customers have in your brand. Reward them adequately and on time for that which you have gained from them.

9. Know Your Customer Value

One way to know this is to interact highly with your customers. When you are close to them, you are able to draw an inference on what they want. Mingle closely with them to gain whatever information necessary.

10. Stay in Contact

Encourage customers by staying in touch with them through a blog, newsletter, or some other means that affords ongoing communication. Just ensure that you keep the conversation going.

11.Don’t Make Promises Unless You Intend to Keep Them

Reliability is crucial to any good relationship and good customer service is no exception. Think before you make promises – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.

12. Deal with Complaints

No one likes hearing complaints, so it’s little wonder why many hate when folks complain. Deal with customer complaints maturely and you will reap the benefits of good customer service.

13. Be Helpful – Even if There’s No Immediate Profit

Be open to being helpful at all times. Do not be nice only when there’s a reward in it for you. Helping your clients, even when they least expect it, will impress them and build their trust in you.

14.Take the Extra Step

If you want to provide good customer service, go beyond what your clients want. Going the extra mile surely adds a sense of satisfaction.

15. Stay Loyal

Loyalty is key to attracting new customers. When your existing customers know that you are loyal, they hold nothing back when it comes to introducing new customers to you and your business. This is marketing that is done passively for you.

16. Introduce Promotions

In a bid to get your customers glued to your brand, introducing mouth watering promotions can act like magic. Promotions that provide true savings and value causes current customers to introduce others to you and your business in an effort to pass those savings along.

17. Throw a Party

Here’s a thought. Why not throw parties for your customers? It’s an opportunity for customers to meet, for you to cultivate relationships with them, for you to gain an understanding of what they want and why they purchased from you, and it builds a sense of community – they might even bring a friend. Lexus, the luxury vehicle division of Toyota Motor Corporation, has programs such as this in place.  

18. Keep Them Up to Speed

If the need for you to raise prices occurs, inform your customers in advance. Their feedback will serve as a good measure to know if they welcome the change or not and it also provides them the opportunity to make purchases prior to the price hike.

19. Be Appreciative

Say thank you at all times for your clients’ patronage. Never feel above being thankful.  After all, you are in business because of them.

20. Build Trust

There are various ways in which you can build trust and providing consistent value is one of them. Decide which works best for you and carve a niche around it.

Master these items above and before long, you’ll be amazed at how loyal your customers become to your brand.  Never forget that more customers, equals more profit. Therefore you have all the opportunity in the world to increase your customer base by putting in place top notch customer service.

 with best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro