Customer satisfaction is a significant aspect of a business and every business owner must think about it thoroughly. Customer satisfaction can have a huge impact on business. Regardless of the size of the business, customer satisfaction should be one of the top priorities of your business.
This is why it is important that you give it the attention it deserves because it can have a positive or negative impact depending on how good your business is at satisfying its customers. There are various ways you can utilize to measure customer satisfaction and one of the most useful methods is through customer surveys.
Why Is Customer Satisfaction Important?
Measuring customers’ satisfaction is the modern-day mantra and businesses, be it big or small, should ignore this important task. But why should businesses spend time to ensure highest customer satisfaction? Let us explore why customer satisfaction is more powerful than what many business owners realize.
Surveys have found that over 80% of satisfied customers are highly likely to want to be associated with you. They will come back to you. This is why you want to create a long-term relationship with your customers because they are key to your business’ growth.
If customers are satisfied, then you can expect a positive outcome as you can build good relationships with your customers. However, it is not a one-time deal. You need to continuously work to ensure your customers are satisfied so they become your loyal long-term customers. You need to give them value every time so that they don’t go to your competitor.
Another survey has found that 95% of customers will do something about having a negative experience. That is, they might warn others not to do business with you or they might vent out their anger on social media pages and so on. The point is, they will make sure others know that your business is incapable of satisfying customers.
Imagine what a negative repercussion that will have on your business. That means even one unhappy customer can cause havoc and can lead to dwindling sales that is not good for your business at all. This is why customer satisfaction remains to be on the top of the priority list!
You should focus on customer satisfaction because it will lead to loyal customers. When people put their faith in you and you continue to keep them satisfied, then they will be more than happy to buy from you always. Loyalty is way more critical than many business owners realize.
One significant aspect to remember is that just because more customers are spending this month and a few are unhappy doesn’t mean it is all sunshine and rainbows. Those people who are unsatisfied can impact your business more than you realize. This is why best customer satisfaction must be provided at all times. But you need to know what it is that is keeping your customers not-so-satisfied.
The way to go is to get feedback from your customers so that you know where you are falling short of expectations. This will enable you to know the areas of improvements and then make the changes accordingly.
Remember that when customers are unhappy, then it will impact your employees. Sometimes customers can yell or be extremely rude. This can affect the morale of your employees which in turn can impact your business. When employees feel like they are not being valued by customers, they will feel exhausted, angry, and uninspired. This means they are likely to leave their jobs much earlier.
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When customers are happy then they will continue to buy from you. There have been studies done that show a loyal customer spends more. It is easier to retain a happy customer rather than have a new customer and turn him into a loyal customer.
When you have a customer who is happy, then there is a higher chance that he/she will recommend your business to other people they know. Small businesses benefit immensely from word of mouth as 80% of the new sales are made because of it. Customer satisfaction must be the priority of every business so that the business thrives, customers bring in new customers, and employees are happy.
Achieving and Improving Customer Satisfaction
While customer satisfaction measurement is important you need to make efforts to ensure you are prioritizing customer satisfaction and improving it constantly. While something might work for one customer, it might not work for many others. Customer satisfaction is a bit tricky which is why we have curated some ideas to improve customer experience. Here are some ideas that might seem like nothing but they can help you satisfy your customers. Note that most of these ideas are geared to help the customer support team do better.
- You should make every customer feel like they are your top priority. The customer service agent should be flexible to take different approaches depending on the customer.
- You should always be positive and it should reflect when you speak to customers. This will help calm them down if they are angry and they will have a better experience.
- It is sometimes easy to spot the main problem that many customers are facing. When this is the case, make sure that the people who can do something about this are notified.
- You should avoid saying no to your customer. If something cannot be solved then it should be transferred to someone else who is more likely to solve it. Never say you can’t do something.
- When you make a promise, make sure that your delivery is even better than that promise. This will boost customer satisfaction.
- You should provide incentives such as a free trial or discounts so that customers stay interested in what you have to offer.
- You should keep your word. Customers always remember what you say and you should remember what you say too. This will help increase customer loyalty.
- When the agents review their own calls, it becomes easy for them to see where they can improve. This can be an eye-opening exercise that will ensure they know how they can improve.
- Use analytics and find out where the problems lie and where improvements can be made to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. Taking a look at the trends is quite beneficial.
- You should try and provide quick and useful answers to your customers. Instant answers are the norm now and you don’t want to lag behind. This will make the customer happy.
- You should calculate how long an average customer is waiting. If the queue is too long then you might want to increase your employees.
- You can have call-review meetings with your customer service staff so that they know their job well and are able to get tips on how to better handle customers.
- You should provide proper training to your customer service agents. This will ensure they know what the business goals are and how they can meet them.
- You should learn from negative feedback. The key is to go to the root of the problem so that you can make improvements that will prove to make your customer happy again.
- You should clearly define the roles of customer service staff and other employees. You should tell them how they impact the entire business.
- Your focus should always be on the problem that needs a solution. This means you need to think about your customers throughout the entire process.
- You should think about the impression you are making on the customer because that is most important. You want to treat the customer as your friend.
- You can ask agents to present samples of complaints by the customers. This will enable thinking of long-term solutions to these complaints.
- You should be honest and let them know why you took certain decisions that they might not understand. This will enable them to be satisfied.
- You should show interest in solving your customers’ problems. You should maintain a positive tone of voice always because this will ensure your customer knows you care.
- You should make it a point to boost your customer service staff’s morale. When the employees are happy, they will ensure the customer is satisfied.
- You want to give your customer an omnichannel experience regardless of how they got in touch with you. This will make them feel valued and appreciated.
The ideas above are some of the ideas that can ensure customer satisfaction. The key is to make sure you work as a team to solve problems and ensure maximum customer satisfaction. A single part of your business alone cannot ensure customer satisfaction which is why you should work together for maximum impact and benefit. Make sure you listen to your employees and customers to know how and where you need to improve. Constant improvement is a must and you should be willing to put in the effort required.
How To Handle Difficult Customers?
Customers can be nice and not pose a problem to your sanity. But some customers just seem to be driven to drive you mad. There are all types of customers out there and it is your job to ensure that the customer service team can handle every customer. Here are some surefire ways that are helpful when it comes to handling difficult customers.
- You need to listen and listen like you truly care about what the customer is saying. You should not interrupt the customer and never argue with them mid-conversation. You want them to finish what they are saying before you speak.
- You should always try and move the conversation in the direction of the problem at hand. Just think that the difficult customer is venting out anger on you and since they don’t know you personally there is no need to feel bad.
- You should never raise your voice at your customer regardless of how tempted you feel to do so and how wrong they are. You need to lower your voice so that eventually they will lower theirs. They will understand they are making a mistake and they will lower their voice too.
- You need to remember that most customers are not going to be difficult to deal with. Hence, when you take this approach you might be more willing to compromise in the favor of your customer. This will let you off the hook and you can spend your energy on other customers.
- You should follow-up if you promised to do so. For example, if you said you will get back to them at a certain time, then do that and stick to it. This will ensure that the customer feels valued and doesn’t think that you are avoiding them.
- You should learn the art of ignoring abuses hurled your way. If you respond like them, then it will only get them more frustrated but no solutions will come out of this. Instead, you need to remind them that you will help them find a solution. This will distract them faster.
- Every day is not the same and you might not even be the reason why the customer is so angry. They might have had another situation that has contributed to their bad mood. This is why responding calmly will help them and you.
- You should be empathetic towards the customer. Try to imagine yourself in their current situation. You need to show that you understand why they are feeling the way they are. Nodding will help the customer and understanding the issue is even better because they will then cool down a bit.
- You should tell your customer about what they can expect after you end the conversation. You should let them know about the next steps so that they know what they should expect in the time to come. Documenting your conversation is a good way to go.
- Some customers become outright rude and they might say things that hurt you deeply. Instead, calmly respond at all times and try your best to address their problem. If you lose your cool, then your thinking will be clouded.
Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire: Everything you need to know
A customer satisfaction survey makes it easy for your company to understand what customers love about your business and where they see faults. A questionnaire on customer satisfaction on a product or service enables you to understand precisely what is going on your customers’ minds. This can be difficult to do otherwise. To help you understand how to prepare a consumer satisfaction questionnaire, we have compiled some questions that you can ask customers so you can measure customer satisfaction. These questions are separately divided into categories to give you an idea about how you can get customers’ feedback about different aspects of your business.
Customer Service and Support Related Questions
You need to take a customer service survey because it is through service and support that your customers get in touch with your business. You want your customers to have a positive experience when they speak to your customer support staff. Your customers should receive quick answers from your customer support team and they should be able to resolve all the queries. The following are some of the questions that you can ask your customers with regards to support and service.
- Was the agent clear in his explanation of the resolution?
- Do you feel satisfied the way the agent handled your query?
- Was the agent polite and was he clear?
- Do you feel like the agent had sufficient knowledge?
- Did you get the solution to your query?
- Are you satisfied with the time it took for the agent to solve your query?
- Did the agent fully understand your problem?
Product and Service Related Questions
The product or service customer survey questions are vital too. These enable you to understand the experience of the customer with the product or service that you are providing. Tying in with the products is the shipping if you are selling products online. Customers have certain expectations when it comes to both of these aspects and you need to understand whether you are doing a good job or not. Here are some questions that you might want to ask your customers.
- Did you receive the product as was described on the website?
- Did the product work properly?
- Did the photo of the product match the actual product?
- How can we make your shopping experience better?
- How easy is it to use the product?
- Did you receive your product on time?
- Did you receive notifications regarding product delivery?
- Was it easy to track your product?
- Is there anything we can do to improve the product?
- Can we do anything to improve the ordering process?
Customer Loyalty Related Questions
You need to know about how loyal your customers are. This can be found when you ask your customers about how they feel about your business. This is easier said than done. And although you might feel like the numbers say it all, you need to hear it from your customers to be sure. The following are some of the types of questions that you need to ask your customers to understand their loyalty.
- Are you likely to recommend our products to others you know?
- Are you likely to buy our products in the future?
- Do you want to receive information about the latest launches?
- Do you think you will buy this product again?
- Are you interested in knowing about the latest offers?
- Will you buy similar products available?
- Do you think our products are the best in the market?
Website Related Questions
When you create your website, you try to make it the best. While you might not be able to see any flaw in your website design, customers might not share the same opinion as you and your staff. This is why when you are formulating customer satisfaction surveys questions you need to ask about your website. Here are some questions that you might want to ask your customers with regards to your website and its design.
- Did you find the website easy to navigate?
- Did you find it easy to find what you were looking for?
- Did you need help to find specific information?
- Did the website open quickly?
- Did you find the help section on the website?
- Do you think we can improve the website?
- Did the website open well on your mobile?
- Was it easy to order from our website?
Marketing Related Questions
You want to know how your customer found out about you. While it is true that the marketing team must have worked day in and day out to bring new customers in, you want to know how exactly the customers found out about you. Sometimes customers find out about businesses through word of mouth or other means. Therefore, when you take a client satisfaction survey you can ask the following marketing-related questions.
- How did you find out about our company?
- How did you find out about our products/services?
- Do you know of our presence in social media?
- Do you follow us on our social media pages?
- Have you subscribed to our newsletter?
- Would you be willing to tell us how we can improve?
You can have a customer satisfaction survey form that each customer can fill out at the end of their interaction. However, it is vital that when you are making a questionnaire on customer satisfaction about service quality then you don’t throw way too many questions at them. This will make the customer annoyed and you won’t get the answers you seek as they are likely to quit without answering the questions. Minimal yet essential questions that capture the essence of what you want to know should be present. You can take inspiration from questionnaires of customer satisfaction surveys in the banking sector where the banks ask questions but do not overwhelm customers.
Customer satisfaction is the ultimate aim of business owners because of its impact on various aspects of the business. The happier the customer is, the better it is for the business in the short-term and the long-term. While you can do well even if customers don’t purchase again from you, the chances of long-term success are slim. But if you have happy customers, then they are likely to spread the positive word around which means new customers and retention of loyal old customers. There are various ways to ensure satisfied customers and one of the effective ways is through a customer satisfaction questionnaire.
