7 ways to make sure your customers feel heard

by | Nov 16, 2021 | Voice of customer

Companies that listen to their customers learn key data which allows them to improve their value proposition and stand out amongst competitors. Customer feedback allows businesses to better understand their customers’ needs and make the necessary changes to their products or services in order to increase customer satisfaction and boost sales. 

What do customers really want?

Listening to customer needs is essential to achieve sustainable growth. Here are 4 customer needs that companies should focus on:

Price

When acquiring a product or service, customers demand a fair price. Low pricing usually attracts a large number of clients but people ultimately seek value for their money. Pricing must correspond to the quality of the product or service that the company is selling. Customers will expect a high price if a jewelry store sells rare diamonds, for example. In this case, a cheap price may deter potential customers. 

Quality

Customers expect a certain level of quality regardless of the price they pay for a product or service. In general, individuals who pay a cheap price should expect inferior quality, while those who spend a greater price can expect higher quality. For example, if a person spends $15, they expect a handbag to last six months. A person who spends $500 on a handbag, on the other hand, can expect it to last five years or longer.

Similarly, the quality of services provided by firms varies. Low prices frequently indicate a lower-quality level of service, whereas high prices frequently indicate a higher-quality level of service.

Choice

Many businesses offer a variety of products and/or services to appeal to different types of clients. When it comes to purchasing things, customers have a variety of needs and preferences. It’s therefore important for businesses to identify key customer insights in order to make sure their products or services appeal to their target audience. 

Convenience

Customers love convenience and are willing to pay a premium for it. Convenience refers to making things easier, faster, or less of a nuisance for customers. Customers are typically willing to pay an additional delivery price for the convenience of being able to stay at home while purchasing clothing or food online rather than going to a store or ordering takeout. 

 

Why is customer satisfaction so important?

Customer satisfaction is generally a competitive advantage in a marketplace where businesses are always fighting for customers. Companies that prioritize customer happiness as part of their business strategy are more likely to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment.

By evaluating and tracking customer satisfaction on a regular basis, you can make informed decisions about how to improve the overall quality of your offering. It is not only a leading indicator for measuring customer loyalty and retention, it also helps organizations improve their brand image and generate more profits

7 ways to make sure your customers feel valued and heard 

1. Analyze and Modernize 

Nothing says customer value like analyzing your products and services and modifying them to better suit customer needs. It shows you listen and implement the suggestions that customers have. How do you go about this? If you want to modernize your firm, Inbe is the place to go.

Listen to your customers and use an agile and proven technique designed by our team to reduce risk and maximize success in a changing market. You can complete a simple, turnkey process in just a few clicks, giving you access to a critical network of respondents. In Canada and around the world, we give you access to millions of clients of different types. 

You tell us who you’d like to join, and we track them down and capture their comments, whether for an online poll, digitized and recorded interviews, co-creation sessions, or something else.

Our service is based on the following methodology:

  1. Opportunity analysis
  2. Value proposition
  3. Conceptualization

We offer training on these broad themes to help you improve your business abilities and bring your firm into the current era. You’ll be able to do things like:

  • Create innovative projects
  • Identify and take advantage of opportunities
  • Identify customer needs
  • Enhance your market research abilities
  • Identify your company’s winning characteristics

If you’d like to learn more, feel free to contact us!

2. Be Authentic

Scripts and prepared responses can be useful customer service tools, particularly when service or sales representatives need to provide legal information. However, a company’s goal should be to hire employees that can operate from bullet points and general ideas while still providing accurate and useful information whenever possible. 

3. Prompt Responses

Clients shouldn’t have to wait many days for a basic response when there are so many instant messaging and online chat alternatives accessible. During regular business hours, your sales and service employees should be available to answer customer inquiries and provide the necessary customer support. Even if the first response is only an autoresponder acknowledging the inquiry, emails should be answered within a few hours.

Customers are increasingly embracing social media to communicate with businesses, whether it’s to give feedback, obtain further information, or launch an inquiry. Some businesses leverage Facebook Messenger to communicate shipment information and purchase updates, giving clients a simple way to contact the business if they have any problems. This ensures a quick response rate.

4. Say Thank You

Businesses exist to service their clients and customers, and saying thank you to them is a great way to show them you value them. Customers appreciate acknowledgements in all forms, from physical items like free gifts with purchases to intangible ones like an email thanking them for shopping at the store. It’s reassuring to know that the company considers a single purchase to be beneficial and significant.

Businesses can also express gratitude to clients by commemorating anniversaries. Customers who have subscribed to a newsletter for a year, for example, may receive a special discount voucher. For many years, thanking consumers for their business has been an important part of customer service and reward programs.

Companies should focus at least a portion of their budget to listening to customers effectively and maintaining existing consumers rather than constantly trying to acquire new ones. Loyal customers spend less time in the sales process and make larger purchases than new customers. They help a company establish a strong market presence over time and give it more visibility through word of mouth. 

5. Rewards

Rewarding clients for their loyalty is one of the most effective methods to keep them coming back. Creating a customer loyalty program that rewards customers with discounts, gifts, and special offers will increase customer satisfaction, build trust, and enhance customer loyalty.

What makes loyalty programs so effective? Customers want to be acknowledged. After all, people have the option of spending their money wherever they want, and they’ve chosen your business. Rewarding customers once in a while makes them feel valued and keeps them interested in what you have to offer. 

6. Feedback Surveys

You can get feedback from customers by:

  • Send surveys by email. Customers who signed up for your newsletter want to hear from you. Those who are invested in your company can provide you with honest feedback to improve different aspects of your business.
  • Using social listening techniques. Social listening consists in determining the popularity of a brand or business by extracting information from its social media channels. To voice their opinions, users can use hashtags, comments, direct mentions, or likes. Genuine ideas are generally simpler to come by on social media, where people are more likely to share their perspectives.
  • Analyzing your website’s data. Your website can tell you how much time users spend on it, what content they interact with, and other important details. Knowing more about your target audience’s interests and pain areas will help you develop marketing tactics that are tailored to their requirements. 
  • Incorporating a pop-up survey into your website. Customers who aren’t on your email list or are new to your website may require additional persuasion to provide feedback. Including a pop-up survey on your website allows consumers to respond to your questions without feeling bombarded.
  • Examining transcripts from chatbots and live chats. By analyzing your site visitors’ live chat or chat bot chats, you can acquire vital information about your customers’ main complaints and worries.

7. Brand Supporters

Your site visitors need to know that your brand is worth investing in before they take any action. With so much competition out there, you need to provide your audience a reason to choose your company over another. Displaying social proof on your website is a terrific method to increase client trust. When someone recommends your items and gives you positive feedback, this is known as social proof. As a result, others will want to look into your company and learn what it’s all about in order to experience the same joy.

Modernize your business