A Report on How to Achieve Customer Satisfaction.doc

A Report on How to Achieve Customer Satisfaction1. IntroductionCustomer satisfaction is a function of the difference between the expectation of the product and its actual performance and is comprised of their satisfaction with the product and the customer service.Customer supportIsnt it enough that customers find a product appealing, the service high-quality, and the price reasonable? The answer is no! A customer that says “yes” to all of the above might be satisfied with your product, but loyalty is a whole different matter.2. Understand your customers2.1 Make them feel specialSpecialized service can go a long way in keeping customers loyal. If you manage to win over a customers heart in a manner thats irreplaceable elsewhere (like throwing in a free pickup for car servicing), its more likely theyll return despite a lower cost elsewhere. It costs less than you think and lowering churn rate can reap unimaginable profits in future.2.2 Provide a familiar experiencePeople like seeing familiar faces. In a physical store, having employees that know the customers name and preferences differentiates you from competitors. In the cyber world, having seasoned employees who know about your company inside and out allows them to provide customers with a higher level of service when help is needed.Live chat allows businesses to create a familiar experience for their customers because different agents can read past conversations and follow up on previously unresolved issues. Think about it: If a company constantly lays off its employees and every time you seek help, an inexperienced agent fumbles with handbooks and knowledge base articles before forwarding you to someone else, would you return?2.3 Create a common enemyMost fans of a certain product hate on another. Especially when theyre extremely similar, but not exactly the same. For example, Pepsi and Coke during Halloween of 2013. Pepsi came up with a clever ad, but Coke fans retorted with an even cleverer one.Moral of the story? If you cant give your fans a reason to rally together, give them a cause to rally against. As the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Think Apple and Windowsthe friendly war between cool and geeky never ends. Once youve understood what makes loyal customers tick and youre determined to convert your normal consumers into raving fans, heres what you need to do.3. Commit wholeheartedlyThe only way to succeed in keeping loyal customers is to dedicate time and effort towards a strategy that always puts your customers in first place. A good strategy to take up is the balanced scorecard developed by Robert S Kaplan and David P Norton. The strategy addresses the needs of the various stakeholders in an integrated manner, with the companys core values as its pivoting point.The balanced scorecard guides companies in thinking about their decisions and operations from 4 different points of views: the customer perspective, the financial perspective, the internal process perspective, and the employee perspective. What this means is that if a company places customer loyalty and satisfaction at its core, the strategy will help tie in all other areas in order to meet that goal.This is extremely useful when it comes to helping individual employees see their own value and their impact on the entire company. For example, a customer service agent would have their own scorecard on how to satisfy customers. Yet at the same time, theyll be able to see the impacts their own actions have on the financial section of the company, since the balanced scorecard ties everything together. When employees feel important to the company and all stakeholders feel committed to a goal while having clear targets, the ultimate dream of achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty can be attained.4. Listen and LearnListening is key to effective customer service and it can also help boost your profitability. Here are two ways to prove to your customers that you are listeningand tips on how to make it count:Everyday Customer Interaction Show you are listening to your customers by taking notes or repeating back what your customer has said. Listen to their words and tone. Observe their body language. Provide them clear and concise communication. Ask clarifying questions to gain understanding before you provide a response. If you cant respond immediately, be sure to provide a timeline for response and make a note in your calendar to do so. Follow up, confirm the resolution and check for customer satisfaction and completion.Facilitating Feedback If you dont have a reason for face-to-face interaction with a customer, look for ways to stay in touch and show you are listening and eager to keep the lines of communication open. For example, follow up with a customer after a sale to prove to your customers that you want to hear from them. Hand out in-store or post-sale surveys to find out what theyd like to see from your brandand stay active on social media (more on this below). Customer service is, after all, about meeting the needs and expectations of the customer as defined by the customer. By soliciting feedback and using that information to inform your business you will find new ways to ensure your business is relevant to them and hopefully open new lines of profitable opportunity.In order to have effective customer service, you must know what your customers want, provide it to them on a consistent basis and ask them how you are doing.4.1 Look for ways to treat customers as you would like to be treatedRemember, how you and your staff communicate with your customers is just as important as what you communicate. Remember that your customer wants to see the sunny side of you and your business, so have your filter on and put yourself in their shoes.A good way to instill this attitude among your staff is to do some simple role play in which they act out a few scenarios that involve both easy-going and difficult customers. Observe how they handle the situation and coach them on areas to improve.4.2 Find out their needsThe process of customer satisfaction begins well before a purchase is made - at the initial contact with the customer. Salespeople should be trained to listen attentively to customers and find out what their needs are. When a salesperson fully understands a customer's needs, he is in a position to recommend the product or service that best meets these needs. Satisfied customers are those who, after making the purchase, are convinced that they chose that particular product or service, not that a salesperson forced it on them.5. Customer satisfactionThe ever daunting CSAT (customer satisfaction score) troubles even the most brilliant of us. Since customer satisfaction is a self-reported measure, businesses often try to figure out what their customers are thinking through a series of stats.Launch a Chat Rating feature which allows customers to rate each individual chat and enables businesses to find out just how happy their clients are when speaking online to a chat agent. This is an example of a measure in obtaining your CSAT.However, since a comprehensive and accurate CSAT is usually made up of more than one measure, collecting information from different aspects of the business can help provide a more thorough idea of how satisfied your customers are.For example, considering customer service alone, data can be collected from different areas, such as the speed of service, efficiency when solving problems, and ease of use regarding the customer service platform. Not only will a business be able to find out how satisfied their customers are with regards to customer service, theyll also be able to see which areas they are dissatisfied with. Our built-in analytics function is a great way to observe customer behavior and view information such as chat duration and number of missed chats.6. Customer satisfaction pays dividends for the long-runTheres a statistic from the White House Office of Consumer Affairs that should be either a welcome reminder or an eye-opener for any company. A loyal customer, that agency found, has a Customer Lifetime Value of us much as ten times the value of their initial purchase. That figure, especially when balanced against the high cost of acquiring a new customer, speaks volumes about the need for any company to focus its attention and resources on increasing customer satisfaction.