Sales and Marketing - Jen Jordan
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Why You Need To Be A Customer-Centric BusinessAlmost every small business owner knows how important it is to give a customer a positive experience and valuable service. The better the experience, the more opportunity you have with that customer. Therefore, it’s essential to be a customer-centric business. After all, without the customers, your business cannot survive. What Does It Mean To Be Customer-Centered? Being customer-centered encompasses the entire company, not just the customer service department or the sales staff. Every business decision you make has the customer in mind. Every business member understands their role in serving the customer, from the sales consultant to the receptionist and the HR department. How Your Business Can Become More Customer-Centered Anticipate your customer’s needs: Customer-centric businesses know what their customers need and want before they do! The best companies think three or four steps ahead of their customers to anticipate what they will want long before the customer needs it. Develop empathy: Customer empathy helps you step into your customer’s shoes and understand their emotional needs and respond effectively. Help everyone in your company develop empathy for your customers. Slack, the business communication tool, helps their entire staff develop empathy by reading customer messages and observing how customers are using their products. Their customer support team creates mini “personas” that represent their users. They practice expressing empathy with their written and spoken words. There are many ways to help your business become more empathetic. Whatever methods you choose, it’s essential to do it regularly so that it stays at the forefront of your mind. Create opportunities for direct interaction with customers: Customers want to feel that businesses value their opinions and experiences. It’s essential to create as many avenues as possible for your customers to have organic interactions with your business. Did you know the author, Bob Goff put his personal phone number in one of his books? He wanted to make himself available to his readers. On the other end of the spectrum, try finding any phone number for a Facebook help desk. It’s next to impossible to talk to a human! Customer-centric businesses make it easy for their customers to contact the right people—for any reason. Ensure your Contact Us page is very visible and has all the correct information. Make sure someone answers the phone when it rings and returns messages in a reasonable amount of time. Care for your customers after the point of sale: Customer service doesn’t end as soon as you close the deal. Customer-centric businesses continue to look for ways to continue offering excellent services. Create loyalty programs or provide services to help customers get the most out of your products. Create social media groups for customers. There are many creative ways to continue interacting with and serving people after you close the sale. Becoming more customer-centric will not happen overnight. But it is well worth the time, energy, and resources. It’s much easier for small businesses to adopt customer-centric strategies than for a large corporation. When people have a positive experience with your business, they become loyal customers. They tell their friends and family about your excellent products and services. Everyone wins! Resources: https://ducttapemarketing.com/simple-customer-journey/ https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-centric https://hbr.org/2018/10/6-ways-to-build-a-customer-centric-culture |