How to Improve Your Customer Care Strategy and Determine If Your Customers are Satisfied

You will see more conversions, greater customer loyalty, and a higher ROI when you improve your customer care strategy. Thankfully, 81% of Americans say businesses meet or exceed their expectations for customer service.

So, how do you know if your customers are among those satisfied?

Today we will look at what you can do to develop a customer service strategy and a few ways to tell if your customers are happy with their service.

Key Takeaways

• Customers expect a personalized experience when interacting with a brand. 
• Your sales representatives should be knowledgeable and available, so you avoid customer frustration.
• A customer will often let you know if they’re satisfied through feedback, recommendations, and brand loyalty.

What Customers Expect in a Positive Relationship with a Brand

Having a consumer-centric business will encourage greater customer loyalty. That means making your customers a priority in your business decisions – even over top of revenue.

Here are four common expectations you should meet to improve your service delivery and build a business around your customers for a positive customer experience.

Image from Zendesk

They Want You to Understand Their Needs

Personalization is critical for building a positive relationship with your customers. You can achieve personalization through listening and understanding your customers’ needs.

About 73% of customers claim their experience impacts their buying decision. Your goal is to make that experience as positive as possible by identifying what they want, how you can solve their issues, why they are hesitant, and helping them feel more comfortable with purchasing.

They Expect to Have Multiple Options

Customers have come to expect multiple options when interacting with brands. Options include different plans customized to their needs, numerous products to choose from, and various ways to communicate with customer service.

You can increase customer satisfaction by using apps, websites, and social media to interact with clients while offering services specific to their situations.

They Want Quick, Accurate Responses

Customers don’t want to wait hours to speak with a customer service representative. They also don’t want to feel inconvenienced by awkward call center times that fall in the middle of their workday.

Instead, customers expect quick responses to comments and emails that thoroughly and accurately address their inquiries. One study showed that 83% of customers feel loyal to brands that respond and resolve their complaints.

They Want a Personalized Experience

About 86% of consumers are willing to pay extra for a great customer experience, and 49% of buyers are more likely to make an impulse buy after a personalized experience. Your sales representatives can create a customized experience by addressing customers by their names, promoting products specific to their needs, and offering customized solutions.

Image from SuperOffice

Potential Pitfalls to Avoid When Caring for Customers

Let’s look at five common mistakes businesses make in customer care and how you can avoid these pitfalls to improve each consumer’s experience using common customer service tactics.

Unknowledgeable Agents

An agent with limited knowledge will not know how to interact with customers in a way that’s not pushy while also keeping their needs in mind. Additionally, they may spread false or confusing information that will deter customers from following through with a purchase.

You can avoid agent errors by properly training each person before they interact with customers. Each rep should also keep notes and check customer data before an interaction, so they understand where the customer is in the sales journey, what previous purchase they made, and any other details the customer shared in previous interactions with service reps.

Not Having a Proactive Approach

If your sales team waits for customers to come to them looking for a solution, they will lose out on hundreds of potential leads who might not even know they have a need. Switching to a proactive approach helps your reps find more prospects by going to where your leads are.

A proactive sales approach means: 

• Anticipating your customers’ needs
• Connecting to each customer
• Offering solutions to problems customers may not even know they have

This demand generation approach increases sales by identifying new leads.

Limited Availability

Customers will quickly grow frustrated if you have very short hours or are often away from your phone and computer. They might have taken time off from work for that interaction or stepped aside during valuable family time. However, if they have to go far out of their way to reach a representative, they are more likely to give up altogether and go to a different company for their solution.

You can decrease the number of lost leads by increasing your availability then sharing those available hours on your website and social media platforms.

Forgetting to Follow Through

Your customers need to know they can rely on you. If a representative says they will email information to a customer, they should follow through. Otherwise, customers might doubt whether they should purchase from a business that can’t keep its promises.

Too Many Automated Systems

Customers will grow increasingly more frustrated if they try to reach a representative for answers but are only met with automated systems. While automated systems can streamline many standard and straightforward procedures, customers should also have an easy way to connect with a live service representative when the need arises so they can receive personalized care.

5 Ways to Determine If Your Customers Feel Cared For

If you aren’t sure whether your customers are happy with their service, use these five criteria to measure customer satisfaction.

• They will become a loyal customer and purchase from your business again.
• They will leave positive feedback on your website, social media, and business pages.
• They will recommend your brand and products to their friends, both verbally and online.
• They will stay in contact with your business by signing up for newsletters, joining loyalty programs, following you on social media, and commenting on your website.
• They will verbally tell you about their positive experience after your interaction.

You can also request customer feedback by sending out surveys after interactions so you can learn what strategies are most effective and where your weaknesses lie.

Use Marketing Insights to Improve Customer Care Strategy

Using market insights will give you a clearer picture of what marketing tactics your audience is responding favorably to. Our solutions will help you collect the necessary data to customize each lead’s experience and increase your conversion rate.

Contact us to learn more.