Are Your Customers Satisfied with You on the Web?
Your boss doesn’t pay your salary – your customers do. Keeping your customers happy is the main goal for all marketing and sales activities, including customer service. Recent technologies have given customers more power than ever before, thus making sure your presence on the web exceeds their expectations has become mission critical.
Scott Monty, Ford Motor Co. head social media guru said,
“As business becomes more fierce, margins shrink and barriers to entry are almost nonexistent in some areas, the competitive advantage that many companies can leverage exists in an often-overlooked but absolutely essential part of the marketing team: customer service.”
So how can you leverage the web to enhance your customer relations? Easy. You start with focusing on what your customers want.
- Make it Simple
- Answer Questions
- Provide Value
- Listen
- Survey
Less is more on the web. By making your website or microsite easy to navigate and with short, concise text you will be helping customers find what they want in the least amount of time. Contrary to what you may believe, customers do not want to read your complete company history or a full narrative about how your build your widgets. They are looking for products, service, or information that will enhance THEIR lives.
Providing a quick easy way for customers to get their basic questions answered is a great way to build repor. Institute a real-time chat or create a video archive of flash tutorials that can help ensure your customers view you as a resource.
An insightful blog that touches on common challenges your customers face is a great way to provide additional value. Mobile applications that make your customers lives easier can also be beneficial.
Social media has given customers the ability to speak up and engage with companies on a level that was not previously possible. Develop a social media strategy that focuses first on listening to what your customers are saying and then interacting with them. Even if you aren’t currently actively participating in social media, doesn’t mean that customers aren’t still talking about you. Would you want to be a part of that conversation? Engaging in social media with customers can help build brand loyalty and prevent dissatisfied customers from telling the world about you.
By surveying your current clients to find out what features and tools they’d find helpful on your website can be priceless information. It’s easy to get caught up in the thinking that you know what your customers want and need.
