The old adage still applies today “most customers will not complain, they will just never come back” or worse, they will tell their friends and family members about the bad experience they had. Convenience and ease of use are key factors in whether a consumer chooses to buy your products or services. For instance, have you tried ordering a product from a company’s web site and found the check out process was so cumbersome that you abandoned the sale and shopped somewhere else? What about a web site that is not easy to navigate? Normally we just get frustrated which leads us to look for an easier site. In turn companies are giving business to their competitors.
Customer Service is another key factor that can make or break a sale. The experience that your customers have when they make contact with your Customer Service department will make or break a sale as well as ensure the loyalty of the customer. This includes not only the length of time you are on hold or waiting for an answer to a question but the length of time it takes to place an order. If your Customer Service Department is not easy to do business with you are forcing your customers to take their business elsewhere.
Since we have established the importance of how our customers interact with us, the next question we need to ask ourselves is how often do we perform a check up on our own company? What better way to find out if our company is indeed easy to do business with. Here are some things you can do on a regular basis to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and to experience what they experience:
1. Try buying something from your web site. How easy was it? How many clicks did it take?
2. Place a call to your customer service department with a question. Did you have to wait on hold? Could they answer your question?
3. Place a call to your company with a complaint. Who does the call get routed to?
4. Place an order with your customer service department.
5. Call your company right before it opens and right after it closes. Does anyone answer?
The above listed may seem like common sense to most of us, but the question is, are we administrating the check up that our companies need.
Author and professional speaker Jeffrey Gitomer states, "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless"