Prodo - Total Marketing Solutions

Do you truly keep your customers happy? It might seem like an odd question and in fact some organisations would feel that it is expecting far too much of them. But if you can keep this simple principle in mind at every stage of your customer communications it should help build customer loyalty.

So what do we mean by ‘happy’? It isn’t just about being cheaper, faster, bigger than everyone else, it is a basic premise that delighting your customer should be a big part of your communication strategy. By writing it down and agreeing with your team what it means and how that should translate into actual communications means that it becomes integral to your core values.

Sometimes it’s understandable that you can’t always keep customers ‘happy’, but by keeping the ‘happy principle’ in mind when dealing with customer complaints you will be surprised at the difference this could make.

Putting yourself in the shoes of your customer (the seek first to understand rule) could make the difference between them switching affinity and ultimately taking their business elsewhere and you retaining a hard won customer. Handled swiftly, effectively and professionally a complaining customer could become a future advocate and therefore a win-win for everyone.

So what else can you do to keep customers happy – well we thought we’d give you some ideas that we’ve built into our business that never fail to work:

1. Keep the phone lines going – it is so tempting to just resort to email as the main method of communication, but we’ve found over the years that a good ‘chin-way’ on a regular basis with our customers really does help build relationships, makes the customer feel valued and ultimately leads to happier customers.
2. Admit when you are in the wrong – transparency and honesty is key, a simple apology and an admission of failure to do something is likely to mean that you can ‘ride’ through a problem and ultimately retain your customer and in some cases have a stronger relationship at the end of it.
3. Delight them with something unexpected – now this might seem small, but a simple lollipop in with an invoice and a personally signed comp slip saying ‘thank you’ goes a long way in making the relationship feel personal.
4. If it is a b2b relationship think about your customer and how you can help their business – providing them with good quality leads and introducing them to other clients who might benefit from the relationship – good old fashioned networking but with your client in mind.

Written by Pippa Adams [Managing Director] Prodo Ltd