Improve Satisfaction, One Customer At a Time – What Every Business Should Know
Customer satisfaction certainly isn’t the only set of metrics you need to look at in order to run a successful business, but it’s one of the most important. Getting a broad view of your customer satisfaction levels tells you how well your customer service team is doing, whether or not your product and service offerings are living up to expectations, and what you can forecast in terms of future business and, to some degree, growth.
This broad view of customer satisfaction, though, is limited in its usefulness. When it comes to actually improving each customer’s experience, the vista of aggregate data is less meaningful than each customer’s specific objectives. Meet your customers on a personal level with every interaction, and make customer satisfaction a one-at-a-time objective—that’s the most effective method if you want to start seeing your big metrics make a move in the right direction.
What “Customer Satisfaction” Means
OK, so obviously “customer satisfaction” is a measure of whether or not your customers are satisfied, but what does that really tell you? “Satisfaction” has its roots in the Latin satisfactionem, which meant to repay a creditor—to give someone what they’re owed. A satisfied customer is not necessarily a happy one, or one that will become a long time repeat customer, it just means they feel they got what they were owed based on the price they paid.
It loses a little luster when it’s painted in that light, but it’s the truth. Broadly-measured customer satisfaction does little to tell you about how much value you’re creating for customers.
So while low customer satisfaction is an indicator that you’ll be losing customers and having trouble gaining word-of-mouth referrals, high customer satisfaction ratings are no guarantee that you’re as well positioned as you could be.
Get Personal Feedback, Give Personal Attention
To get a good pulse of your customer satisfaction levels, use surveys and other tools—including simply asking—to find out how customers view your company, how likely they are to keep doing business with you, and what you can do to make things better. Ask customers individually what they like and what they’d like to see more of, and use this information to build your customer service plans.
Tailor your services to each individual customer as much as possible, too. This is easier for long-term service providers than for companies selling commodity goods, but simply using customers’ names and sincerely asking if there’s anything else you can do for them can make a world of difference.
If dedicating time and/or staff to collecting customer feedback sounds like a burden, let us lift it for you! Our call center services are designed to not only provide exceptional customer experiences, but we can customize a plan for you that includes collecting feedback so you can really understand your customer satisfaction levels. We’re more than just a helpful, friendly voice for your callers. We can deliver powerful, actionable information for you to make the best business decisions possible. Contact us today to learn more!
More posts you might want to check out:
Are Your Customers Having a Good Experience? Here’s How to Tell