This means that winning them over is only half of the battle – you need to give them a good reason to stick around. After all, acquiring a new customer can cost 5x the amount of retaining a pre-existing one.
Fortunately, there are many ways to ensure you earn your customers’ loyalty, such as refining your customer experience strategy. Here are some top tips to get you started!
Figure out what you are doing wrong. The first step toward improving your customer experience strategy is figuring out what you are doing wrong. This is particularly important if you’re struggling to reach your sales target for each quarter or dealing with poor customer retention rates.
One way in which you can bring these issues to light is by hosting focus groups with both your customers and members of your target demographic who have yet to buy a product/invest in your services. They will be able to provide honest feedback on what they like and do not like about your business practices so that you can make improvements based on their insight and feedback.
In addition to focus groups, which give you the chance to interact with your audience face-to-face, you should also give them plenty of opportunity to provide feedback digitally. For example, you may want to include a link to a customer experience survey to online orders or receipts so that they can voice their opinions at a time that is convenient for them. You can encourage customers to fill out these forms by offering some kind of incentive, such as an exclusive discount code or the chance to be added to a monthly prize draw. This way, they are much more likely to give up their time or provide you with detailed, comprehensive feedback.
Improve your product packaging. When it comes to improving the customer experience, you have to be mindful of the fact that every detail matters, especially when it comes to improving their perception of your brand. Think of it this way: are you more likely to stop and look at a product that is expertly (and sustainably) packaged or one that looks as though it has been thrown in the first available box or bag? Alternatively, if you’ve already spent your money, which packaging are you more likely to be impressed by?
Working with packaging wholesalers, such as Ozpack, is the easiest way to upgrade your packaging, as you have plenty of options to choose from, including mailing boxes and satchels.
Don’t ignore negative reviews. No matter how hard you work, you cannot please everyone. This means that from time to time, you’re bound to receive some criticisms and complaints from your customers. Fortunately, this does not mean that your business is doomed. In fact, this kind of feedback can be incredibly useful when it comes to improving your business practices moving forward!
However, it is crucial that these reviews are not ignored. Remember, whether they are featured on your site or a third-party platform, ignoring them does not mean that other customers or potential customers will do the same. This, coupled with a non-response on your end, makes it seem like you don’t really care about your customers or making things right. However, a response that shows you hold yourself accountable and provides some kind of explanation or an attempt to make things right shows both the reviewer and those who come across the review that your heart is in the right place. It could mean that they are much more likely to trust you moving forward.
As such, you should aim to respond promptly to customer reviews, even if they are not exactly the glowing feedback you’d like to receive.
Build a team of customer service pros. Each and every employee will join your team with different experiences when it comes to dealing with customers. While diverse perspectives and tactics can be useful in this regard, it’s important that you offer a consistent level of excellent customer service across the board. This means that customers will have comparable experiences no matter which member of your team they are dealing with.
One way in which you can achieve this goal is by providing all team members with the same level of training and specific guidance on how they should interact with customers. This is something that you may wish to refresh annually so that you can build a team of customer service pros!
Keep looking forward. Whether you’re celebrating a marked increase in sales or have recently launched your most successful product or service to date, it is important that you don’t consider this a ‘job done’. After all, a product that does well one month is not guaranteed to perform well the next!
This means that you should always keep your eyes on the prize by thinking about what you can do next. This is a great way to not only capture the attention of your target audience but also ensure you maintain their custom for as long as possible! This means that you should continually invest in things such as product development and market research. After all, the more you understand the market you are operating within, the easier it will be to come out on top.
Develop a loyalty scheme. Developing a loyalty scheme that rewards customers for their continued support and customers is a relatively simple yet effective way to set your business up for success. In fact, various studies have found that customers are far more likely to buy a product when they are part of a brand loyalty scheme and may also feel more inclined to recommend it to others.
Of course, you need to make sure that the loyalty scheme is worth their while. For example, you should offer exclusive discount codes or the chance to try out products before they hit the shelves. However, you should not charge a fee to join the loyalty group!