Why Good Customer Service Is Your Most Important Metric
In our world of social media, there is a new metric that matters more than anything else: customer satisfaction. We’ll discuss why good customer service is your most important metric and how to make sure you're not only meeting but exceeding the expectations of your customers.
Once all your responsibilities are met and you've made sure everything is on time, under budget, and up to quality standards; the only thing left to do is think about customers. Because here's a little secret: they're more important than anything else. Think about it: every dollar of revenue comes from some buyer or customer that agrees to purchase your company's products and services.
When you have satisfied customers, they are returning to buy from you again and again, giving referrals, writing blog posts or reviews about how fantastic your business is. When you have unsatisfied customers, it means lost revenue for your business - money that could have been used to hire more people, develop new products or improve infrastructure. Negative word of mouth spreads quickly, and that lost revenue can be difficult to recover.
But how do you know if your company is satisfying its customers? How do you measure customer satisfaction? And what happens when the business metrics like revenue - the numbers everyone's so crazy about - start to overshadow customer satisfaction?
Understanding how important metrics like customer satisfaction and word of mouth are to your business helps to know what you can expect from them as a business owner.
Customer Satisfaction is Good for Your Company's Reputation
Many companies don't realize the impact that negative or positive word of mouth has on their business. A negative experience with your company can go viral in minutes. Whether it's a terrible phone call with your customer service department or having to wait 5 hours for an oil change, these experiences are shared via social media, e-mail, and word of mouth.
Positive word of mouth happens when satisfied customers talk about their positive experiences with friends, family, colleagues, and peers. There are many positive reviews on the Net Promoter Score website, but it's hard to find a negative review. The truth is that businesses with loyal customers are more likely to be recommended by their clients because they trust them enough to tell others about the service they received.
Great Service Creates Raving Fans
Every business claims it wants satisfied customers, but that's just not enough. A study by the research firm The Kelsey Group found that 67 percent of customers would recommend a company based on its service, while only 3 percent would go out of their way to trash it. This statistic is what separates average companies from great ones: One focuses on keeping customers happy, while the other simply does what it can to avoid bad reviews.
Great Service Sells Itself
Another study conducted by The Kelsey Group found that 31 percent of respondents were likely to purchase something again after receiving great service; 18 percent said they would spend more with a company, and over half (53 percent) would go out of their way to find a company's products or services.
Studies have shown that the majority of customers rank quality service as a top priority when making their final buying decision. One survey by J.D. Power and Associates found that customer satisfaction is more important than price, product, and promotions combined in influencing customer loyalty and buying behavior.
Good Service Is Hard to Find
As we move toward a highly competitive marketplace, we are finding that the best product or service doesn't always win. The majority of companies can deliver similar products and services, which makes it hard for customers to choose based on quality alone. So how can you set yourself apart from your competitors?
The answer is great service.
Great service is a competitive advantage that you can rely on to separate your company from the pack. It isn't just delivering a reasonable product or a reasonable price at a reasonable time, but something that exceeds expectations and makes customers feel special every time they do business with you.
And as markets become more crowded and companies become savvier at providing better value for their customers, good service is becoming the only reason why some companies are getting loyal customers.
The Role of Customer Service in Your Business
Whether you're selling coffee or iPhone apps, customer service has always been important. You need to provide your customers with a great buying experience every time they interact with your company.
But in today's world, when the market is full of strong competitors selling good products at an affordable price, customer service can become the differentiating factor between you and them.
Customer service is the only reason why some companies are successfully able to beat their competition, build a strong brand presence and develop brand loyalty. It is the reason why some companies can increase their revenue by 30% year after year.
Does this example sound familiar?
Build a strong connection with your customer. Make them feel that you care about their business and go the extra mile to offer an amazing service. This is not just about long hours in the office or making sure that every client gets attended to - it's about managing expectations, understanding the market, and finding better ways to help your customers.
In a bid to provide exceptional service, some companies have even built call centers around the idea of being able to fit in with their customer's schedules. In many cases, it meant that employees were coming in early or staying late so they could work around the schedules of busy professionals that rely on efficient customer service at all times. This is a great way to tap into the importance of providing services on your customer's terms.
Another area where service can make or break a company is with an online presence. If you're looking at ways to improve the effectiveness and reach of your business, then you should consider investing in SEO. It's the best way to ensure that more people will be able to find you online. You can't do that without a good customer service team, though.
Conclusion
We know that all your efforts in marketing and branding are important, but if you want to stand out from the crowd of competitors vying for customer attention, it’s crucial to develop a stellar customer service strategy. With this approach, not only will you be providing an excellent experience for customers who have already been sold on your product or service; you also get the opportunity to wow potential customers with phenomenal aftercare support. It might seem like a lot of work at first glance, but when we take care of everything from packing up orders and sending them off to ensuring our sales team is always available via live chat--you can focus on what matters: creating content that helps convert prospects into new loyal customers. What do think?
