Nibletz Staff
Regardless of the type of company you run, the customer should always be your priority. Without them, you’ll never gain the sales figures needed to achieve a profit. In turn, this will prevent you from ever accomplishing the dream of sustained success. As such, their importance could not be greater.
In business, you will always need to stamp a sense of personal authority onto those activities. Nonetheless, it’s possible to learn a lot from other success stories. Here are some of the key lessons to be gained in the field of keeping customers happy.
- Tailor marketing strategies to suit your audience. All companies have their own niche, and finding a unique approach to win over a larger percentage of the market will have a killer impact. Appreciating the fundamentals of online marketing is essential for all modern entrepreneurs. However, you can gain a lot by looking at companies like Taco Bell and JetBlue Airways. Those brands always try to inject a little humor to gain a stronger response from their customers. Better still, the nature of viral content often enables them to gain new clients through this methods too.
- Find the right balance between visibility and annoyance. As mentioned above, advertising products and services is crucial. However, going over the top can bug people, which detracts from what you are trying to achieve. Coca-Cola only uses TV advertising in a strategic manner, maintaining a softer approach in most situations. While you may not be in the same position as this iconic brand, it’s important to learn the importance of timing and coverage. Otherwise, your marketing endeavors could have the reverse influence of what you’re aiming to achieve.
- Ask for their opinions. The main of any business is to give customers what they want, which is why the lack of internal market research in the modern arena is baffling. Every entrepreneur has heard the tale of Henry Ford claiming that his audiences would’ve asked for a faster horse. Of course, that underlines the fact that you can’t listen to everything that clients want. Nonetheless, you’re aiming to satisfy their needs and using these questions for guidance will allow you to do that. If nothing else, showing that their opinions matter can make clients feel respected. This in itself can be crucial.
- Provide individual services. For a customer, there’s nothing worse than feeling that the support team isn’t trying to solve your problems. Most people have stopped using a company due to a poor experience in this field, which is why you must embrace excellent customer service. Let’s face it; this is one of the reasons that millions stay loyal to brands like Apple, who have dedicated “geniuses” on hand to help. Even if your SME isn’t at this level or in this arena, ensuring that each client is dealt with in a unique manner is crucial.
- Offer special loyalty schemes for existing clients. Most businesses happily run promotions with the hope of recruiting new customers. While this can be a great way to increase your revenue, it can leave loyal users feeling undervalued. It’s quite common for large coffee chains to offer a free drink for every 10 bought while food establishments run similar schemes. This method, combined with free promotional t-shirts and mugs can go a long way to building a stronger bond. After all, consumers love getting value for money, and those items add to those sentiments.
- Ensure that all customers know their data is safe. The Yahoo scam perfectly identifies how important security should be for your business. Many of the 500 million affected users closed their accounts and went to a rival email service following the hack. So, if your business isn’t supported by the best security and data protection features, it could fall victim to a similar fate. Given all the hard work it takes to gain a customer in the first place, this simply shouldn’t be an option on your agenda.
- Learn to operate in a greener manner. This doesn’t necessarily show a commitment to the individual client, but it highlights a desire to help the planet. Operating in this responsible manner doesn’t need to be difficult. It can begin with simple ideas like using eco-friendly packaging or using LED light bulbs in the office. If this solution gives clients another reason to invest in your company instead of the competitors, the results will be brilliant. If it’s good enough for giants like IKEA and Panasonic, it’s certainly good enough for you.
