10 Vital Steps to Manage Customer Satisfaction and Lengthen Retention
Whether it's someone going above and beyond or someone totally dropping the ball, we all have customer service experiences we'll never forget. They are the stories—good or bad—we tell anyone who will listen (including our Facebook friends). These are the types of experiences that do nothing to improve customer satisfaction and can make or break customer relationships.
Your customers aren't just buying a cleaning service—they are buying an experience. Solve a problem that's been swirling in their head for weeks? Bring some joy to their lives on a bad day? That's how you create a loyal fan for years.
On the other hand, say “that's not my job” when someone asks for help or take days to resolve a problem, and you may lose a customer for good. They'll be off to find another cleaning company, and maybe spread the word about their lousy experience with you.
Don't let your customers throw up their hands and give up on your business.
Create raving, long-term fans with these 10 tips for customer satisfaction and retention.
1. Respect Time, Reduce Effort. One of the top reasons customers abandon ship is frustration over wasted time and inordinate effort in seeking problem resolution. Craft a customer service experience that makes each step clear and creates a path of least resistance.
Have a live person answer the phone, if possible, and avoid leaving customers on hold for more than a few moments or transferring them to multiple departments. Staff your front office and your front lines with warm, knowledgeable, enthusiastic employees eager to lead your customers to a satisfying resolution of any complaint.
How do you know if you've got a problem? Call your own office or enlist a current customer to help you out by calling with a concern and analyzing the path to resolution. When they see you working on making the best experience possible for them, you're sure to gain some loyalty in return.
2. Prioritize Existing Customers. New customers are important, but it's vital to retain old clients (click here to learn more about creating a balance between the two). A high-quality Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool can help you monitor and manage your clients.
If you notice a decrease in their service activity or sales volume, ask how you can provide a better experience. If you notice an increase, show your appreciation and reward their loyalty. Provide regular updates through newsletters and emails, and offer new solutions and benefits that evolve with their needs. Let them know they're always on your radar.
3. Empower Your Staff. Educate your employees on your business philosophy and goals so they can apply them on the job. Empower them to solve problems themselves instead of turning to management to resolve every issue.
Give employees the power to say “yes” and limit executive time and money wasted in escalation. Provide a simple procedure of action steps for routine interactions, authority to make decisions for most exceptions, and an efficient escalation policy for genuine emergencies.
4. Improve Employees' Knowledge. Your employees should understand the industry well so they can talk to customers about problems coherently. Remember, they are acting as the face of your company out in the field.
Many employees don't understand the big picture of their industry or their company, instead only learning their own small piece of the process. This puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to offering helpful solutions. Well-informed employees feel a sense of ownership and pride and can offer unique contributions in their continual daily interactions with customers.
5. Make Things Easy. Make your procedures and policies easy for customers to understand. Strike a balance between maintaining practices your customers know and trust, and introducing improvements and new technologies into your business. When you make changes, tell your customers, show them how it affects them, and ask them to provide feedback.
6. Be an Excellent Partner. Treat your customers as long-term clients from the start. Develop an ongoing relationship as a trusted advisor, and help them accomplish their goals. Exceed their expectations, invite opportunities, and ask for honest opinions. Be accessible, transparent, and dependable.
7. Use Empathy. Always look at your customer's point of view and teach your employees to do the same. Customers need someone who cares, listens to their concerns, and responds to their specific issues. Create a culture in which employees give their full attention to improving each customer experience and solving every problem. Exhibit patience and warmth, a friendly tone and body language, and an ear for unspoken needs.
8. Take Care of Your Staff. Treat your employees with the same respect you show your customers. Disgruntled employees who feel overworked or underappreciated will have little energy or motivation to provide great customer service. They'll be watching the clock and looking after themselves. Your employees represent you to the world and need your encouragement, trust, and guidance to do their best work. (Click here for tips on improving employee retention.)
9. Correct Mistakes and Apologize. Do what you say you will, correct mistakes promptly, and apologize when things go wrong. Customers will forgive an occasional error or oversight if you deal with it quickly and fairly, use their input to improve your processes, and thank them for the opportunity to make things right. Show your appreciation for their patience and understanding and use the experience to gain greater insight and provide better future service.
10. Get Regular Customer Feedback. Make it easy and rewarding for customers to report their satisfaction levels. Call, email, or visit on a regular schedule, offer them gift cards for completing satisfaction surveys, and be active in the channels where your customers research products and ask for help. (Click here to read more about quality assurance programs.)
Provide multiple avenues for anonymous feedback and mine your CRM data for sales and service patterns across your base. Discover where customers get stuck in your processes. Show them you care about their opinions, and use their input to make continuous improvements, proving their complete satisfaction is always top of mind.
Customer Service Training Program for Cleaning Technicians (PDF Download)
Your customers generally judge you, your reputation, and your quality of service by the way your employees handle themselves and deliver on the promises you make. Do your employees really know how to represent your company in the way you want it to be represented?
The Customer Service Training Program for Cleaning Technicians will pay big dividends with your customers!
Why is customer service training so important?
- 96% of unhappy customers don't complain, however 91% of those will simply leave and never come back. – 1st Financial Training services
- One unhappy customer will tell 9 to 15 people about their experience. - White House Office of Consumer Affairs
- 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. – McKinsey
- It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience. – “Undertanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner
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