Register now or log in to join your professional community.
First, at the moment can not be all of these factors are compatible in a single product which would make the customer DISSATISFIED WITH product in general,
- As if the quality of the brand was not available the benefits of the product are available in terms of being a secondary is not necessary or that the price is not commensurate with the quality of the product or its benefits
Second: even if these factors are available in a single product, the customer satisfaction has become difficult in light of market confidence loss in general due to the large number of fraud by small companies and aimed at a quick profit without regard to market deterioration or affect other companies
Finally: a company that has made a great effort to maintain its mutual between them and the customers' confidence will not be difficult to have to satisfy their customers - as the clients who trust in the company or a particular product will overlook the availability of one of these factors in the product just for their confidence in the product or the company
Based on the above must be an honest competition between companies in the market, whether small or large to be competition in the development of the product and not the customer fraud and therefore will be customer satisfaction is not difficult.
When running a high-growth business you could well find the amount of attention you can devote to each customer becomes increasingly stretched as your company develops and your client base expands.
But even when rapid growth places additional strain on the product or services you deliver, it is essential to remain aware of the importance of managing customer relationships.
Customers expect a high level of service. Regardless of the quality of the product or service you provide, they will not stay loyal to you on a long-term basis unless you treat them properly before, during and after a sale.
You need to consider how you communicate with your customers, how effectively you respond to their demands and how you gather and act on their feedback.
1Communicate with customersRegular interaction with your customers will help build trust and loyalty. If your customers believe that you are communicating with them openly, they will feel their relationship with you is one of mutual trust.
Standards of service are constantly improving, so keeping customers satisfied is a continuous process.
Ensure your whole business is focused on meeting customers’ needs. Your product or service may be excellent, but the customer experience can be undermined by late delivery, sloppy invoicing or an off-hand employee.
Under the Consumer Rights Act consumers are entitled to clear and honest information before they buy.
Under distance-selling rules you are legally obliged to provide customers with certain information about their order including a description of the goods or service, price, cancellation rights and delivery information. You must also make it clear who you are by providing your business name and location, address of your registered office and contact details.
Distance-selling rules also require you to provide customers with an order confirmation.
Under the Consumer Credit Act you must provide consumers with a signed, written agreement detailing the amount and period of credit, cancellation and cooling-off rights, default and early repayment charges and the rate of interest. You must provide at least one statement per year to consumers on a fixed-credit agreement and notices of any amounts in arrears if a consumer misses or falls behind with payments.
As well as telephoning your customers to keep in touch, you might use your website - or even an extranet - to provide them with useful information and gather feedback.
You might email your customers with useful information - but make sure you have permission first.
Use online media to stay in touch with your customers. Consider setting up a company Facebook or Instagram page or use Twitter to post micro blogs promoting products, news, or general business developments.
Respond to customer contact quickly and efficiently. This will make them feel their feedback is appreciated and acted upon.
Remember that it is easier and more cost effective to retain existing customers than it is to sell to new ones.
A key account manager could provide a more personal service to your most valued customers.
2Measure customer service levelsThese can be anything from the number of complaints you get and how many faulty goods are returned to order-fulfilment times and how regularly you contact each customer.
Make sure you use the information you gather to improve your customer service. For example, if your level of on-time deliveries falls, you need to identify why and take steps to address the problem.
Gathering regular feedback and monitoring customer satisfaction is essential to maintain high standards of customer care.
You need to be constantly in touch with customers’ needs and market developments to keep a step ahead of competitors.
Ask your customers who they consider your competitors to be - this can provide some surprising insights into your market position.
Find out how your performance compares with your competitors. What do you do better - and worse? You can then take action to exploit your strengths and minimise your weaknesses.
It can also help to benchmark your performance against similar suppliers (but not competitors) that your customers use. Your customers may use their experiences with such suppliers to judge your performance.
Put internal processes such as appropriate contact-management systems in place to communicate relevant information on customer contact.
If a customer complains, make sure that a relevant account manager knows. If the complaint is, for example, about product quality, ensure the person responsible for manufacture is informed and that action is taken to avoid a recurrence.
If you sell to other businesses, consider how your service levels will affect their customers. What can you do to make their lives easier?
3Gather continuous feedbackIf your customer produces a newsletter or other marketing communication, ask to be sent regular copies so that you are aware of changes to their business, potential threats and new opportunities.
Use technology to develop the relationship you have with your customers (see section 7). For example, if you have a website, provide a feedback form for customers and post answers to frequently asked questions.
Use free, online tools such as Survey Monkey to create your own customised surveys.
Use social media, hard-copy or email newsletters to keep them in touch with your business developments, new product launches, achievements and awards.
By visiting your customers you can better appreciate how their business works, and they will feel that they are a priority customer because you have made the effort to come out and visit them.
Getting to know your customers on a more personal footing will help to develop a loyal and trusting relationship.
Do not wait until customers approach you with problems - they may never tell you about them. Be pro-active and set up processes to collect feedback.
Give anyone dealing with customers a feedback form. This means that if there is a problem it can be rectified quickly.
Attend events and exhibitions that you think customers will attend.
Consider involving customers in the development of new products or services.
Always act on any problems that you identify. You may want to use ‘mystery shoppers’ to check standards of service at every point where customers interact with your business.
Add a web address where customers can give their feedback to receipts and order confirmations. Ask customers to give you their feedback and offer them an incentive, such as a free prize draw, for doing so.
Thank customers for their feedback and let them know if you implement any changes as a result.
Keep questions brief and specific, and consider using an incentive as an inducement for customers to respond.
Avoid overloading customers with such surveys.
Benchmark your surveys to evaluate if your business is making improvements or remaining static. If the same complaints and problems keep occurring, it shows you are not listening to your customers.
Such surveys should be an addition to the ongoing process of gathering feedback from customers. Whenever the customer is in contact with anyone representing your business, they should be asked if everything is meeting their expectations.
4Assess your resource levelsAssess whether buying in bulk, for example, changing delivery days or switching to just-in-time delivery could bring mutual benefits and help you deliver an improved service to customers.
Pay close attention to your relationships with suppliers. When your business is stretched, you will need their support.
As your business develops, you may outgrow a supplier. You may have to source materials from new suppliers or use several at the same time.
If you outsource delivery, talk to several transport businesses to find out what they can offer your business.
Make sure you have enough phone lines and people to answer calls.
If you manufacture a product, assess whether you have the capacity for increased work. You may need more staff or additional equipment.
Assess how you could work more efficiently. If, for example, you take orders via your website, consider integrating this with stock control and accounting systems.
Avoid overtrading. Do not take on orders that you cannot fulfil.
Be clear on how much extra funding you will need to support your growth and how quickly that growth will bring a return on the investment.
Often a small proportion of your customer base - perhaps as little as 20% - can be responsible for as much as 80% of sales and profits. You need to establish who your most profitable customers are and ensure they receive the highest levels of service.
These are the clients for whom you may want to nominate dedicated account managers to deal with any problems they may have.
You may want to provide extra benefits for these customers - by waiving minimum order levels or inviting them to special events, for example.
5Assess and monitor your delivery capabilitiesAssess whether you are delivering what your customers need.
Make sure your delivery system ensures that the customer receives exactly what they are expecting, when they are expecting it. Late deliveries, incorrect deliveries or damaged goods cost you money and seriously damage customer relationships.
Talk to your customers and find out if they are satisfied with your delivery standards.
Delivering slightly earlier or later, or even on a different day, might make all the difference to them.
Tailoring your service to suit your customer will give them the impression you are respecting them as a key account.
If a customer complains about delivery, treat it as an opportunity to improve the service.
Act on any negative comments and keep your customer informed about the changes you are implementing to avoid a repeat.
A customer who believes their complaint has been handled efficiently and that they have helped to rectify a problem will recognise that you are listening to them and may become more loyal as a result.
6Ensure staff are suitably trainedThese staff are at the front line of your business and need to portray an efficient, professional image at all times.
If you do not have anyone in-house who can train staff, consider hiring a professional trainer to plan and carry out sessions for you.
Training for all staff is vital. Ensure they know why they are doing their particular job and how it will affect the customer if they do not do it properly.
For example, packing a product incorrectly could result in the product being damaged during delivery, causing inconvenience to the customer and costing your business money dealing with the return and providing a replacement.
Involving everyone in the business helps them to understand your aims and objectives, also keeping them up to date with customer needs and changing demands.
Encourage staff to support one another and to work together to meet customer needs. Avoid a ‘blame culture’ where people blame other employees to explain problems to customers.
7Make the most of technologyNetwork all your PCs so that any member of staff can retrieve customer information and deal with a query.
Consider installing a customer relationship management (CRM) system so that all customer-facing staff can access customer details and records.
A good database or CRM can help you to record, plan and manage contact with your customers. It allows you to store and use information you learn from customers, whether this is in person, on the phone, by email or over the internet.
CRM allows you to analyse your customer base and determine the characteristics of your most profitable customers. You can then plan marketing campaigns to target these customers and potential clients with similar characteristics - and track their success.
Remember that your database is only as good as the information on it - it is essential to keep your data up to date.
You could set up a secure extranet to allow customers to access key information such as pricing and stock levels, make repeat orders, give feedback or access manuals or other documents.
The integration of customer service with other functions such as ordering, warehousing and delivery can help your business to remain customer-focused.
Consider if using technology could provide tighter stock control, more efficient ordering and delivery for your customers while reducing your costs.
It may be possible to link your technology to that of both your customers and suppliers. Bringing the supply chain together in this way can produce more efficient order-processing and financial administration.
If you hold information about your customers in either electronic or hard-copy form, you must comply with the Data Protection Act.
ln some cases, you will need to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office of the information you are collecting, and for which purpose.
If you send marketing emails to potential or existing customers, you must comply with a range of requirements under ecommerce regulations.
Agreed. Because these are all ingredient of the cake. But what about the cream that wrap up the cake - The client relationship?
Good question! Mostly people think that product price, quality and services are main tool for costumer’s satisfaction. But really I am not agreed with this because these things are good for customers for short time. User/Costumers always want new, different and latest developed products as per present requirement.
If costumer’s satisfaction only with price, quality and services then Nokia never lost their market share in few years, the main reason was not adopted android technology.
Other example: Apple never upgraded their models and specification for their costumers.
Basically, recent research regarding client satisfaction survey assessment indicated above mentioned. What actually is missing?
You are some where lacking in the concept of brand, Basically in short words brand is besically any thing that distinguish your product to other products, its your product image. so if your not be able to provide better service quality then people will remember your product as a good product, but with less service quality.
Thank you for invitation.
Let me share with you my personal experience. Brand Quality and prices always attract the customers but the customer services also important and play vital role in sales. Me and my friend went for shopping in a big Brand Shop but the rudeness and lack of attention of the customer services, we left the shop without buying anything. Many people do not think of the price but quality and great services.
No , i dont , customer care all above mention quality in product for which is paying and would like to get the best in return of his payment
I donot agree copletely becase it depend on customer to customer,for some quality is important and they dont care about price ,for some price matter and not the quality,but as far as service is considered ,it is the only tool which satisfy a customer .Whatever be the price or quality of product if service is not there people will not find the product useful ,but if the service is best price become secondary .Presently nearly all theproduct is sold only with the power of service they provide the customer.
