Your customers are the most important part of your business, regardless of what kind of business it is that you are running, so you need to make them feel that they are just that. There is always room for improvement within any business’s customer experience sector, and going that extra mile from the customer’s point of view may only mean tweaking a few areas here and there for you and your employees.
#1 Your customer’s experience of your website
Firstly, you need to shine the spotlight on your website. This may mean getting a third party to take a close look at it or investing in a company to do a UX audit to see if your website is doing what it should and that it is as user-friendly as it could possibly be.
Your website should be a good representation of your business. It should be easy to navigate, with clear and precise instructions on what your customers need to do and where your customers need to go next.
Your loading time should be good and quick. If it is too slow, you risk the chance of your potential customer getting bored and going elsewhere.
Make sure to have plenty of options for any customer or potential customer to contact you and your business, and always be ready to answer questions or assist them in any way you can. There is software available where you will be able to answer your customer’s queries from mobile or web browsers alike, making it easier for you and your staff to always be reachable.
This is a significant point in the customer experience, and the difference of not answering a question quickly enough could be the difference between having that person as a customer or not. Moreover, if you do not answer them or are very slow to get in touch, you could find that your company gains a bad reputation.
#2 Offering your customers a free gift
You may find that a little bit of enticement can go a long way. By offering a free gift for extra sales or for recommending the company to a friend who then buys, is another way to boost your profit margin as well as improving the customer experience, though you do have to make sure that the free gifts you offer are desirable and of good quality.
You could even turn this to your advantage, by offering something like a good quality tote bag which is of a practical size, has an attractive design on it and is something which will be used, can also have your company logo or products, as well as your business contact details. In this case, you have given something which is likely to be used and viewed by many but is also advertising your company or product for you.
#3 Ensuring that you have above and beyond after-sales care
Your relationship with your customer should not end at the point of purchase but should continue throughout.
By giving your customers after-sales care, you are letting them know that they are valued. This does not mean hounding them, but by getting in contact to check that all is ok with their purchase and that they are happy, maybe even gaining a bit of feedback about their experience with your company would be very beneficial to you. Any feedback given should be accepted with respect, even if it is negative feedback, and all should be added to any employee training to make sure that the good points are continued and the bad points are sorted out. Communication skills are essential in sales because sales people must ensure that customers understand the products and services offered, Sales Coaching Melbourne provides revenue which is the lifeblood of business.
While you are continuing with the customer relationship and offering after-sales care, you may find that there are other products that you can sell to the same customer. The more your relationship continues, and the more positive the experience that customer is having with your company, the more money they will spend, and they will also recommend your company and your products to others, and so your business will grow and prosper.
#4 Train all your employees in customer services
It is very beneficial to train all members of staff in the art of dealing with customers. For some people, this does not come naturally, and being approached or confronted by a customer can seem scary, and when asked questions, the employee could panic and give the wrong answer or impression of your company.
This is definitely true should they be confronted by an angry or upset customer, and full training of what should be done in these circumstances is a must.
With that being said, if you give your employees full training of their own job roles within the company, you will find that they feel confident enough in their own ability to answer any questions about what they are doing or about the products or services that they are working on or offering to be able to give the company a glowing reputation in the customer’s eyes.
If you offer your employees certificated training, whether it is industry lead or in-house, you may find that you can offer their expertise as specialist knowledge. Customers like to know that they have experts or specialists working on their products or services, so this in itself will boost your business’s reputation as well as maybe your prices.
#5 Wow your customers with their goods
Another way to enhance your customer experience is with delivery. It is one thing to say that their delivery is always on time and that it is packaged so that it does not get damaged while on route to them, but what about offering a little bit more.
If you package your products like they are top-end products, you could get top-end prices. Imagine the difference between opening a basic, low-cost item with flimsy cardboard and maybe compartments which do not actually fit the product inside and compare it to the top of the range version, which is placed in a sturdy box, and the product is safely nestled inside the compart which fits it nice and snuggly and that it is presented like it is worth a considerable amount of money – even if it is not.
This is the difference in customer experience between top-end products with top-end prices and low-end products at low-cost prices.