You may be a small business owner, but you’re also a customer. With advances in technology, your customer habits have evolved over the years. In fact, your shopping habits are probably smarter than ever before. You compare prices online. You read customer reviews and ratings before spending a dime. And, once you do make a purchase, you only stick with a company if it delivers superior customer service.

If the customer experience is subpar, you’ll quickly give your business to someone else. Why the lack of loyalty? Because, you know what a good customer experience is. You’ve experienced it with companies like Apple, Amazon, American Express, and Nordstrom. So, let’s turn this around to your business.

Your business must deliver an excellent customer experience, its survivability depends on it. You may not be competing with Amazon, Apple, Trader Joe’s, or Southwest Airlines, but your customers are going to expect a similar customer experience. “But my product is better than my competitors!” That’s not enough. These days, customers don’t just compare one company or product to its competitors, they compare the “customer experience” to other companies as a whole.

Suppose a customer has a problem with your product or service, and your staff refuses to correct the problem to the customer’s satisfaction. Suppose your company made a mistake, but your employees charged the customer instead of providing a replacement free of charge. Imagine one of your customers had a complaint, but it fell on deaf ears. The point is, customers will compare your customer support to other businesses and when you fall short they are going to ask, “Why?”

How Does Your Customer Experience Add Up? 

What is customer experience, also known as CX, exactly? According to digitalgov.gov, customer experience “encompasses all the interactions a person has with your brand. It might be measured in: overall experience, likelihood to continue use, and likelihood to recommend to others.” 

A good customer experience gives the customer the ability to:

  • Have a pleasant interaction with your company.
  • Have a professional and helpful interaction with your company.
  • Feel positive about your company and everything they associate with it.
  • Feel good about their overall experience with your company.
  • Feel as if they would definitely use your company again.
  • Feel certain that they would recommend your company to their closest friends and family.

Do you feel that when customers use your products or services, they have the positive customer experience described above? If your company has room for improvement, you could be missing out on valuable opportunities to deliver superior customer service, to better retain existing customers, to enjoy more repeat business, and to receive word-of-mouth referrals.

Room for Improvement 

When your customers have a complaint, do they have to re-tell their story? If so, this is less than ideal. Businesses should have a system that records customer complaints. The first person the customer complains to should take detailed notes so the second person understands what’s happening when they jump on the call. Customers shouldn’t have to tell their story all over again.

Another issue is social media. Is someone at your company monitoring the social media channels for customer feedback? Social media is one of the easiest ways to receive customer feedback and respond to customers, both thanking them for positive reviews and turning negative ones into positive PR opportunities by quickly and effectively resolving a customer’s complaint.

Depending on the size of your company, you may or may not have a customer service department, but that doesn’t change the fact that customer service should always be a priority. When you fail to invest in the customer service initiative, you run the risk of losing valuable business to competitors who are.

Make CX Priority Number One 

From the first call to your company where the customer reaches the receptionist, to the transfer to the salesman, to the last interaction with your business, the customer should feel valued and appreciated and like their opinion matters. They should receive a seamless, high-touch experience from start to finish, and the ball should not be dropped at any point in the process. When customers contact your company via phone, email, or social media, your company should be equipped to provide a stellar interaction that solves their issues in a friendly and efficient manner.

Don’t Let Technology Stop You

As a business owner, it’s important to identify your customers’ main issues and find a practical solution quickly, even if you’ll reach a better solution the following month. And, you don’t need a state-of-the-art customer call center to “listen” to your customers daily on social media. The objective is to take the resources you have and ensure they are geared towards elevating the customer experience.

If your customers aren’t having a positive experience, it’s going to affect your bottom line. If they’re spending their money with you, shouldn’t they walk away feeling like they were given the best customer experience possible? At AdviCoach, we help business owners take their customer support to the next level, and we can help your small business too. All you have to do is give us a call!