The last thing any small business owner wants is disappointed customers. Patrons who are unhappy with the customer experience are unlikely to grace you with repeat business and may contribute to negative word of mouth. As such, it’s in every business owner’s best interest to make curbing customer disappointment a priority. To help ensure that customers walk away happy and provide you with continued support, put the following tips to good use.
Be Upfront About Deals, Offers and Policies
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Some businesses use intentionally vague and/or misleading language in promotional materials to get customers through their doors. However, once patrons are lured in, they often find themselves blindsided by the actual details of certain offers and/or sales policies. Needless to say, misleading customers in this manner is bad for a number of reasons.
For starters, it can prove extremely detrimental to your customer retention efforts. While such measures may succeed in catching the interest of first-time patrons, these individuals are highly unlikely to become repeat customers after being tricked. After all, why would anyone reward a business for bait-and-switching them? Secondly, such business practices are just plain wrong – and in some cases, outright illegal. Odds are you wouldn’t appreciate being misled by a business, and there’s no reason to expect your customers to feel any differently.
With this in mind, make a point of being completely upfront about special offers and sale policies. This will go a long way towards preventing miscommunications and misunderstandings with patrons, thereby minimizing instances of customer disappointment.
Express Appreciation Whenever Possible
Even if many consumers are pleased with the products and/or services a business offers, they’re liable to take issue with feeling unappreciated by said business. In order to thrive – or simply keep their doors open – small businesses need loyal patrons, and failing to show your customers due appreciation is unlikely to endear you to them. So, if customer appreciation and general gratitude aren’t currently priorities for your business, this needs to change immediately.
To start with, make a point of thanking every customer for their patronage, regardless of how you may personally feel about them. You should also end every phone call, email and text exchange with a customer by expressing your sincerest thanks. The more appreciated customers feel, the more likely they are to keep coming back. Knowing that their patronage makes a difference will help many customers foster a strong personal connection to your business, which can facilitate significant long-term gains.
Be Willing to Make Amends for Mistakes on Your End
An unwillingness to make amends for mistakes is among the foremost causes of customer disappointment. As a consumer, there’s nothing worse than having a business respond to a legitimate grievance with indifference and/or rudeness. While adopting such an approach to customer grievances may help you maintain your ego, it can prove extremely damaging to your business’s reputation and cause irreparable harm to customer relationships.
When customers come to you with grievances, it’s in your best interest to apologize for any mistakes on your end and do everything in your power to make things right. Even if you don’t view certain grievances as legitimate, it’s strongly recommended that you check your ego at the door in such situations. You have much more to gain from approaching grievances and complaints with understanding and compassion than from refusing to acknowledge any mistakes on your end.
Pay Attention to What Customers Want
Paying close attention to what your customers want will enable you to alter your policies in accordance with their wishes. To form a solid understanding of what your patrons want, take care to engage with them through your business’s social media accounts and actively encourage them to provide you with suggestions via text and email. Additionally, a custom CRM software can prove helpful when it comes to keeping track of customer needs and preferences.
Curbing customer disappointment should be a top priority for every business owner. After all, if your business develops a reputation for consistently failing to deliver, you can expect to see a noticeable downturn in repeat patronage and new customers. Luckily, keeping customers satisfied is easier than a lot of businesses make it look. A little bit of effort and a willingness to amend old behaviors can go a long way in your quest to minimize customer disappointment. So, if enhanced customer satisfaction is what you’re after, make good use of the advice outlined above.