Posts

The Benefits of Great Customer Service

/in /by

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Service|The Benefits of Great Customer ServiceGreat customer service is an incredibly beneficial thing to any business for a whole range of reasons. This article aims to highlight why exactly you want to provide a great customer service experience and what the benefits will be if you do.

Better Sales

One of the main benefits of having a brilliant customer service operation is that customers who are pleased with their experience are far more likely to buy more than customers who are not. This is because mood has a large impact on the willingness of customers to spend money, which means your company wants to take every step possible to provide the best possible customer service so that your customers are in the best possible mood.

An Atmosphere of Improved Communication

By providing great customer service experiences such as a live call answering service to help deal with any issues that may have occurred in the customers experience, you set the foundations for an atmosphere of brilliant communication to exist throughout the workplace. Taking a cue from the employee satisfaction practices, you can encourage your employees to be more open and communicative in the workplace, establishing better communication practices and reducing the amount of miscommunication in the office. This is beneficial as miscommunication between employees can cause some serious issues for productivity and the elimination of these issues should boost employee morale overall.

Customer Satisfaction

Speaking of boosted morale, the process of providing detailed individual care to each of your customers will help them to feel valued and appreciated as the valuable individuals that they are, boosting their mood and helping them to feel more satisfied as customers of your business. This can be a more resource intensive process, but the result for your customers is well worth the cost.

Positive Online Reviews

This positivity in your customers’ mood will last in your customers mind, making them far more likely to write positive and appreciative reviews that will help to bump up the rating of your business online. With this increased rating online, you will be looked upon more favorably by the search engine algorithms and you will likely find more customers. These customers will hopefully be treated just as well and go on to leave positive reviews themselves creating a positive feedback loop that is beneficial for your company.

Customer Loyalty

Further, this sense of value and positivity towards your business that your customers feel could drive them to become loyal lifelong customers that stick with your company permanently. This is incredibly beneficial as these long-term existing customers provide far more value to your business than new customers do, meaning that your company will be able to turn a significant profit from lifelong customers. Additionally, these highly loyal customers are far more likely to recommend your business to their friends and loved ones maintaining positive word of mouth marketing and painting your business in a good light. All of which are highly beneficial as they come at no additional cost to your company.

Ensuring Your Customers Feel Valued

/in /by

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Valued Customers|Ensuring Your Customers Feel ValuedIn business, you have to make sure that your customers get everything they want from you. To do that, you’ve got to create a sense of value; your customers want to feel like you care about them, and have more to offer them specifically, as it’s the best way to promote a sense of brand loyalty amongst your customer base.

However, how can you go about ensuring your customers come back when you’ve got so many competitors to deal with as well? Everyone is trying to build a loyal customer base, and drive up sales with both new and repeat custom – what can you offer that’s different? Pure value, especially when you follow the ideas below.

Don’t End Your Customer Service at the Checkout

The customer service you provide for the people who shop with you needs to extend beyond the point of sale. It’s not a one-and-done kind of deal here; you need to check in with your customers after they’ve left, to see what they think of their experience and their product, and whether or not they have suggestions for what can be done better.

So ask for their email addresses at the checkout – it’s the best way to both boost your mailing list and ensure you can easily contact them again once they’re out of the door or have closed down your website. It’s best to make this an optional agreement, as people who are already willing to shop with you are more likely to sign up when they’re simply given the choice to.

Give Them a Reason to Come Back

Giving your customers a reason to return and shop with you is key to building the type of value you’re looking for here. You need them to want to come back, because you’ve got something great for them to spend their hard earned cash on, and moreover, you’ve got some benefits for them to reap at the same time.

Which is why a Rewards Network always works out best in this scenario. You’re offering your customers a program in which, if they subscribe to the idea, they get to enjoy free items or money off coupons in the future. It’s a great incentive, and it shows you value the people who shop with you.

Use Their Feedback

Finally, and following on from our first point, make sure you take the feedback a customer gives you and actually put it to good use. If you get the same kind of feedback from more than one person, you can be sure it’s a problem you actually need to address – maybe there are not enough staff on the floor, or maybe it takes too long to checkout, etc.

Take this feedback and make a change based on it, and then tell your customers you’ve made that change. Announce new and exciting changes to the way your business works, and invite them back to come and see them.

Your customers need value; are you offering it?

Signs Your Business Could Benefit From a Mobile App

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Mobile App|Signs Your Business Could Benefit From a Mobile AppWhether you’re aiming to capture new customers or delight the existing ones, creating a mobile app is a fantastic opportunity to improve and market your business.

With the rapid adoption of smartphones comes a great deal of opportunities.

To enhance your business and create more effective communication with target customers, you need to determine whether your customers would embrace the app.

What kind of app do you need? Who is your target market, and who are your competitors?

Here are a few ways you can do that and create more business opportunities!

Check your mobile traffic visitors

The first and the most important clue that your business could benefit from a mobile app is checking your website traffic. If you determine that a large share of your overall traffic comes from mobile users, there is your sign!

Use online tools such as Google Analytics to count the number of visits and check the mobile traffic ratio.

These kinds of tools also allow you to detect priority markets by looking at the countries that your traffic comes from. This will additionally help you to examine your website traffic and develop your app according to the demand.

According to Statista, mobile traffic accounts for about half of the website traffic worldwide, with almost 51% of global website traffic, and this has been consistent since 2017.

When you examine your website traffic, you will be able to determine whether a mobile app is the right solution for your business.

Then you can follow up by taking the necessary steps, such as using a responsive design and optimizing the user experience.
Do your customers need to use your service offline?

Depending on the type of your business, it is up to you to determine whether your customers could benefit from using some features of your website offline.

What is it that the offline access to your app would provide for them? Is it your content or maybe the tools you offer in the app? Or are they more attracted by constant availability and the speed of search?

Firstly, your customer won’t be frustrated with poor connectivity issues anymore.

These kinds of apps are especially popular with businesses like games and mobile entertainment, news, and guides, training and education, online shopping, and traveling.

Some of the basic examples of successful offline apps are Spotify, Kindle, TripAdvisor, and Google Maps. Although the app requires a connection to download and install updates, you can continue to use all its content offline, unlike with a classic business website.

By granting offline access to your services through an app, you are gaining more customer loyalty and providing them with a faster loading process. It also saves their battery and simplifies work with storage.

Try to look at things from your customer’s perspective. Would you as a customer prefer offline access to your app?
This allows you to determine whether this option would make sense for your type of business.

Who are your competitors?

The next question for you to consider is: are your competitors using mobile apps?

If so, then chances are that there is a demand for an app in your industry. The competitors have already tested the waters for you, so you can use that to your advantage.

When you conduct detailed research on your competitors and study their efforts and strategies, you will easily get an idea of whether your business will benefit from introducing a mobile app.

The app market is huge and you can surely find a dozen competitors with a mobile app. Learn from them, improve their approach and examine their marketing plan.

Use your competitors to your advantage. Check whether they are using the offline approach and better working conditions. Notice if they are focused on a top-notch UX/UI design. Do proper competitive analysis and make sure to check reviews from current and previous users.

This will allow you to find the best fit for your business.

Examine your demographics

You need to adjust your marketing efforts and observe how user behavior varies depending on different factors.

Did you know that 49% of people open an app more than 11 times per day? And even more so, that 21% of Millenials open an app more than 50 times per day?

As mentioned before, it is not just a way to gain more customers, but to keep the old ones as well, especially if they spend a lot of time on their phones!

A mobile app has many advantages over a website and offers many new possibilities to personalize marketing and improve customer experience.

Going back to your competitors, you should determine the regions where their site traffic comes from. Define your typical app user. Define his age, gender, language, education, and familial status.

All of this information will help you create your target group, which is of crucial importance for creating your app.
Your target group needs to share similar demographics and interests. You start by defining them and go further into planning. You adjust your features and design according to their preferences.

Find out their occupation. You will know their purchasing power, whether they have time for your app, and whether they’ll need it for professional purposes.

Conclusion

To determine whether to introduce a mobile app for your business, it is important that you follow these steps and cover all aspects.

Bear in mind- all information you can gather is valuable.

When you examine your mobile traffic, competitors, and demographics, you will get a clear idea for the next step in your business. Mobile apps are on the rise, and this could largely affect your business’s future.

So do your research, adjust your app features and bring your business to a whole new level!

About the Author

Joe Peters is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and an ultimate techie. When he is not working his magic as a marketing consultant, this incurable tech junkie devours the news on the latest gadgets and binge-watches his favorite TV shows. Follow him on @bmorepeters

Recession Survival Tips: How Your Business Can Come Out Stronger

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |recession survival|Recession Survival Tips: How Your Business Can Come Out StrongerDid you know that almost 18 million people were unemployed in the USA in June 2020? The ongoing fight against the Coronavirus has led to unpreceded financial losses and a bleak outlook for the future.

If you are a business owner you are no doubt interested in recession survival. What can you do to ensure that your business stays afloat?

Take a few minutes to read our in-depth article to find out what you can do.

Reduce Your Outgoings

When a recession hits, it affects everyone. This means that you can use this as a bargaining tool with creditors.

First, you should call your landlord and negotiate rent terms. If you have been on the premises for some time and have built up a good relationship with the owner, you will have a strong bargaining position.

Landlords will always want to retain good tenants rather than search for new occupants that may or may not be as reliable as you.
This is the first step in your recession survival strategy. If you want to know why a strategy is so important you can learn more from this page.

Collect Owed Money Quickly

Recessions tend to become gradually worse as more and more businesses are affected. This means that you should try to collect any debts as quickly as possible before debtors are unable to repay.

You can offer incentives such as a small discount for fast payment. However, ensure that any larger incentives are not offered to every customer.

Why? Because of your next goal.

Retain Existing Customers

Simply put, retaining customers is easier and cheaper than finding new ones. In fact, customer loyalty can make the difference between survival and sinking during a recession.

If you offer low prices, communicate regularly with existing customers. Emphasize the need for the cost-effective pricing you offer during a recession.

If you do not offer the cheapest prices on the market, emphasize the quality of the product you offer and the need to invest in quality during hard times.

Listen to your customers and offer them the best incentives you can. Do your best to meet their exceptional needs during an exceptional time.

Layoffs: Do it Quickly and Kindly

Laying off employees, especially long-serving employees, is never easy. However, when possible, try to do it early in the recession and while showing compassion and preserving dignity.

Early layoffs that are well planned will reassure the remaining staff that their place is valued and assured. This will prevent unnecessary anxiety and possible staff leaving of their own accord.

Recession Survival and Other Necessary Skills in 2020

Not even world leaders saw the COVID-19 crisis coming. And no one could have predicted the full economic tidal wave that came with it.
However, this does not mean that your business is doomed in the coming recession. By applying these recession survival tips, you can ensure that your business stays afloat and even registers growth.

If you are interested in learning more about business and lifestyle developments, then we are here to help. We gather the latest information and bring it to you via our feed. Take a look today!

The Emerging Strategy of Innovative Service

/in , /by

The world of the customer has dramatically changed. The tough economy has made customers more value conscious, demonstrating far more caution in how they spend their hard-earned dollar. The proliferation of self-service (while a blessing when it works) has made customers more frustrated when they feel trapped in a process with no live person to help. And the Internet, with its social media reach, has empowered customers with strong influence over other customers and the reputation of companies.

Such a plethora of challenges has required all organizations to rethink their strategy. Since revenue from customers and the power of their advocacy dramatically impacts organizational growth and profits, assuming “we know what’s best for our customers” is akin to a death knell.

But, the largest challenge today is not the changing expectations of the new, normal picky, fickle, vocal and wired customer. It is their requirement for an experience that heightens their emotional connection and ramps up their affinity. Customers are bored and want their hearts to race and their spirits to soar. And, here is the backstory.

Hi there! This article is available for free. Login or register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided Client by:

Subscribing to the Self Guided Program - It's Free!


 

About the Author

Chip R. Bell is a customer loyalty consultant and the author of several national best-selling books. His last three books include The 9 ½ Principles of Innovative Service, Managers as Mentors (with Marshall Goldsmith) and Wired and Dangerous (with John Patterson). He can be reached at www.chipbell.com