The more we understand our customers the better we can serve them. And the better we serve them the more business we get. That would seem to prove logical. So, here are two quick lessons on customer satisfaction that you may have heard before, but it’s always good to be reminded how to be nice to your customers.
Lesson #1: It takes a lot to satisfy an unhappy customer.
Unhappy customers don’t want a discount off their next purchase or a pre-written letter of apology signed by your team. What they really want? A connection. Meaning they’d like genuine sympathy. We’ve all been disappointed with a purchase, so your team should be equipped with some genuine understanding and a heartfelt apology. And give them a chance to tell you exactly what went wrong with their purchase and how you can correct it.
If you’re successful you’ll not only retain the customer but turn them into brand lovers, touting how well you handled the situation.
Lesson #2: There are two kinds of loyalty.
Type one isn’t earned. It’s the loyalty of convenience.
If your business is geographically more convenient, your website is better structured, or your phones are more likely to be answered, you’ve won those customers. But it’s a very superficial type of loyalty. It could be gone with a move across town or an arrival of a newer, closer business.
Type two—you guessed it—is earned. It’s the loyalty of satisfaction.
And this ties back to lesson one. Customers with this kind of loyalty are committed to your business because of positive past experiences. And that’s hard to tarnish—as long as you keep handling your customers with care and complaints with compassion.
