1.Care for Your Employees:

Loyal employees are the greatest assurance for loyal customers. The equation is straightforward: if they genuinely love your company, it will show in their interaction with customers. Committed employees are passionate advocates for your brand.

This can be achieved through various means, including:

-Focus on the Positives:
People psychologically respond more to positive feedback than negative. Praise effort, not just at a personal level but also within the team. Encourage correct actions more than focusing on negatives.

-Create Shared Values:
Strengthening the sense of belonging is done by creating a shared goal that everyone strives for, through stories, experiences, and situations they encounter. Seize every opportunity to reinforce this feeling.

-Reward Them:
The feeling of appreciation and respect comes from caring about their circumstances. There’s no harm in rewarding them within reasonable limits.

2.Go Beyond the Script:

People always pick up on how genuine your interactions are. Are they mechanical or real? Registered emails and scripted messages no longer deceive people. It’s bad if the customer feels like just a number to you. Always try to break this habit, pay attention to details, and leverage them by asking about them. Imagine a sales call starting with asking about their pet’s well-being? How could it end?

3.Ask Them About the Service Level:

“Unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning,” as Bill Gates said.

Direct communication with customers and taking their feedback on the service provided are crucial ways any company can use to measure customer satisfaction. Some might argue that this might annoy them. Then make it simple, easy, and quick, and don’t worry. Anyone experiencing a real problem will reach out once they feel their voice is heard and matters.

4.Communication Gaps:

One of the worst things customers can face is trying to describe their complaint more than once. It’s crucial that the employee dealing directly with the customer is in contact with those who have the decision-making authority.

Ask yourself if you work in sales or customer service and face a problem that the customer couldn’t resolve, what are the escalation channels? And how and when does it happen?

Effective communication between different departments and levels is essential in any company. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than having an angry customer trying to explain themselves for the hundredth time.

A-Apologize:

Michelle Nicolaides says, “When it comes to retaining loyal customers, a big apology is the first line of defense after everything. Customers want to stay with you; it’s the path of least resistance. And generally, people like the path of least resistance.”

For a successful apology, focus on these two things:

-Avoid Defensive Terms:
People tend to blame external circumstances to avoid embarrassment. Instead of saying, “I made a mistake,” it’s much better to say, “There was a system glitch.” People sympathize with you more, and it calms their storm.

-Don’t Apologize Before Resolving the Issue:
Repeatedly apologizing to the customer won’t solve the problem. Don’t keep apologizing. Tell them the steps you’ll take to solve this problem.

B-Treat Customers as Humans:

In a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI, people who had bad experiences with companies were asked to choose from several options on how to deal with their problems. Among the options were getting free products or discounts, and others, as an alternative, regardless of the problem. The majority, 46%, chose the option of being treated as valuable individuals.