How to Grow Business With Tailored Customer Interaction Efforts

grow business tailored customer interaction

Having quality customer interaction, with both new clients as well as current customers, is imperative in growing your business. In fact, a recent study discovered that increasing customer retention by only 5% can increase profits by more than 25%! Even having the most top-notch marketing and sales departments bringing attention to your business can't help without a good customer experience. 

So what's the recipe for the ideal customer interaction? How should a business get started with a plan of action for interacting with consumers? 

Keep reading to learn more about how to grow your business through a custom-tailored plan for positive customer interaction. 

Quality Customer Service 

We've all heard the phrase "happy wife, happy life". It might seem silly, but the same logic applies when striving for good customer interaction. Happy customers become repeat clients, which is the goal! 

Having a quality customer service team is key when growing your business. Research has shown that 60% of people will opt to not do business again with a company if they had a poor customer service interaction. 

Encourage your customer service department to strive for pleasant conversations with customers. It is also good practice to have a "one-call resolution" policy, where issues are solved during the first interaction. 

The L.A.R.S. method is a common strategy employed in customer service training. L.A.R.S. stands for: listen, apologize, repeat, and solve. 

First, listen to what the customer is saying. Next, apologize if the situation warrants it. Then repeat what the client said to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Finally, do everything possible to solve the issue during the first communication with them. 

User-Friendly Web Page 

While we all know in-person and telephone interactions are important, we can't forget about a positive online customer experience. 

Consider taking a closer look to see what changes can be made to your web page.  You may find that your website is not pulling its weight in the "positive customer interaction" department. 

A great way to do this is by using analytics software to gauge every visitor's experience who comes to your site. 

Take a look at this feature rundown for this software. It is able to actually replay the entire experience of an individual's visit to your website. By looking at the common paths potential clients take while visiting, you can update your page to fix experience issues. 

Utilizing Customer Advocates 

Customer advocates are real customers who write reviews and testimonials for your company. They can also personally recommend your company to friends or acquaintances. 

Most people take online reviews seriously and include them in their decision-making process. Because of this, it is important to encourage each client to provide feedback. 

Once your marketing efforts have enticed potential clients, the positive reviews will seal the deal. This is yet again another reinforcer that a great customer service experience is truly important. 

Take a Look at Your Feedback 

The job isn't done after just asking for customer feedback. Businesses need to review customer feedback frequently to make adjustments as needed. 

The positive feedback your business receives will reaffirm the things that are working. Consider negative feedback as a tool to know what changes need to be made to increase customer retention. 

In doing so, over time the positive reviews will increase and the negatives will decrease. Ultimately, this will give you an easy and applicable selling point when speaking with potential customers. 

Adopt a Customer Loyalty Program 

A customer loyalty program can be a simple and inexpensive way to encourage repeat business. If a client is already familiar with a company and has had a positive experience with them in the past, a discount or incentive will keep them coming back for more. 

Businesses don't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to loyalty programs; the tried and trues are still around because they work! Here are a few easy ideas to increase customer loyalty: 

• Repeat customer discounts 
• "Buy 10, get your next visit free" punch cards 
• Referral programs that give a small discount to both parties 
• Partner with related companies that will offer reciprocal discounts - i.e. a moving company partnered with a storage facility 

Returning customers are more likely to spend more with your company than new clients, so it's important to reward such a valuable asset! 

Get Organized 

With all of this new information and ideas, your company will need a method to organize and execute everything properly. 

Choose a customer relationship management (CRM) system to help keep track of where each customer is in their customer lifecycle, all of their information, and what actions are necessary to either attempt to gain their business or how to retain it. 

CRMs can be used to notate communications between the business and the customer, any complaints or pending issues, or any previous feedback that has been provided. They can also be used in organizing mass mailings or email campaigns for marketing, holiday cards, or thank you notes to keep clients engaged. 

Putting the Plan in Action 

Now that we know how important having good customer interaction is, and the steps needed to make it happen, it's time to write down your company's plan and put it into action. 

Remember, customer service is going to be the backbone of the process. As cliché as it sounds, having a "the customer is always right" attitude and policy will go a long way in ensuring happy customers, positive reviews, retaining clients, and encouraging new ones. 

Check out more articles on our site for more on business information, technology, money-saving tips, and more! Visit the CX section of the Bootstrap Business Blog to improve your company's customer interaction campaigns consistently.

Official Bootstrap Business Blog Newest Posts From Mike Schiemer Partners And News Outlets