As a business owner, you know that sales are needed to drive your business. How do you fuel those sales? Customer satisfaction.
How well you satisfy your customers determines how successful you will be at building a thriving business.
At the heart of customer satisfaction is expectation. If you are able to meet expectations, then you can be confident in having satisfied customers. There are four levels of satisfaction, each one higher than the next based on how well you meet or exceed the expectations of your customers. The higher you go, the higher the level of satisfaction, which will have a great impact on the sales and growth of your business.
Meet Expectations
Meeting customer expectations is the bare minimum that any business needs to do in order to survive. This is the level where your customers have nothing to complain about, but that doesn’t necessarily foster loyalty. It would be easy for a competitor to swoop in and steal your customers from you by showing them a little more effort. So, while meeting expectations might work for your business today, it is not going to help your brand grow into something bigger and worthy of customer loyalty.
Exceed Expectations
Here is where you are making more of an effort to surprise your customer by giving them more than they expected. It could be something as small as helping them out to their car with their purchases or following up with a phone call to ask how they are enjoying the item they bought or the service you performed. Exceeding expectations doesn’t require a grand gesture, just something that will make your customer feel good about doing business with you.
Delight Customers
When was the last time you received service that left a smile on your face? If you make it your goal to have each customer leave with a smile, then you will work that much harder to earn big points with them. You not only meet their basic needs, but you’ve actually connected with them on an emotional level. When you get your customers to this level, it’s harder for them to be swayed by a competitor. This is a big step towards building a strong, lasting business.
Amaze Customers
This is the highest level you can reach with your customers and it will rocket you ahead of your competitors. Here is where you turn customers into loyal fans. If you can amaze your customers on a regular basis, you will become a leader in the marketplace and see amazing levels of growth and profitability.
Your customers are what keeps your business going and growing. The harder you work to ensure the utmost satisfaction, the easier it will be to start seeing your sales increase. You will gain new customers through the recommendations of your exceedingly happy, loyal customers that you worked diligently to foster a relationship with. What can you do today to start amazing your customers?