So you provide a great product. People are happy with the price. You’re good at getting customers. If you’ve got your bases covered on all of these, you’re probably thinking you’re running a well-oiled machine that needs no modifications. But what have you done to improve customer experiences?
When we say “customer experience” we’re not talking about the customer journey. The customer journey is the path they take from unknown to lead to customer. The customer experience is what happens after they become a customer.
This is where a lot of businesses fail. A lot of marketing funnels refer to this as the “delight” portion of the buyer’s journey. It’s where you build a strong relationship with your customer. And a strong relationship with one customer can turn into multiple referrals as time goes on.
It is a lot easier to keep a current client happy than it is to go out and find a new client. So here are a few ideas on how to improve your customer experience.
Personalized emails
Don’t you hate getting emails from a company that you’ve been a customer of forever and they still don’t understand what you like? We expect companies to know what we want after patronizing them for a certain amount of time.
We expect recommendations around items we’ve purchased, services we’re using, or information we’ve asked for.
If you run an ecommerce site that sells leggings, and someone repeatedly buys leggings with adorable cats on them, chances are they’re going to be interested in learning about the next installment of kitty leggings. (Heck, it’s a hypothetical company and I’m interested).
Make sure you have the data in your marketing automation platform, and use it to send those customized emails.
If people are looking to you for a certain item, make it easy for them to find. Let them know it’s in stock. Let them know that thing they’ve had sitting in their cart is now on sale. Tell them when you’ve added a feature to a service that they love.
When you tailor your message to the people who care, those people will love you for it and you won’t be annoying your larger database that is just not into kitty leggings.
Rewards programs and incentives
There’s no right way to run a rewards program. It depends totally on the type of business you run.
You might do a traditional reward card, giving customers a bonus every time they spend a certain amount of money. This tactic is something everyone’s favorite local coffee shop loves to do.
Or, a software company might incentivize customers to use their product and add more licenses by issuing rewards for completing certain actions.
Another option is implementing a referral program, where you give customers a gift card for sending you a prospect.
There are a lot of options out there, but make sure it aligns with who you are as a business and is simple to understand. Complex reward programs are not successful because people just don’t have time to learn your rules.
Show that you’re listening
Your customers will always provide you with feedback, much of it unsolicited. But as a company that wants to continue to delight your customers, you need to turn that feedback into action.
Software companies should set up a place for customers to suggest feedback. Ecommerce stores should have a form customers can fill out requesting certain items be restocked or new things be added to the store. Brick-and-mortar locations can have a physical suggestion box.
And don’t shy away from routinely reaching out to your customers to see how they’re doing!
There are so many ways to gather information from your customers. And while gathering that information can be useful, the important thing is to act on it. Look for patterns in your suggestions, and take these comments seriously.
Don’t change your brand or your business based on a single comment, but weigh the criticism (along with the praise) and see if it makes sense for you to change how you’re doing things.
And when you do follow a customer’s feedback, make sure you let them know! Announce it to the world and give them credit.
Ready to improve your customer experiences? Contact Nicklaus Marketing today.
