There are many ways to determine whether or not you are satisfying your customers. Although it is true that many satisfied customers, unless prodded, will not let the company know that they are happy. Before the world did business online, the old adage “No news is good news” meant that if you never heard that anything was wrong with a customer, their level of satisfaction must have been acceptable.
Struggles to reach customers and find out how they really felt often seemed like we, as business owners, were out looking for trouble. But with today’s lightening fast internet, an upset or even mildly disappointed shopper can ruin tens if not hundreds of potential sales by posting on Facebook or tweeting on Twitter.
It is better for business owners to go seeking to measure customer satisfaction than to just hope that if you don’t hear anything, that the client was satisfied. That’s because not only can negative reviews and comments be made if not immediately corrected, but if companies don’t ask their clients to rate them, they will never be able to measure their level of happiness.
All business owners should want their customers to be happy. When we ask our customers if they are happy, it tells them that we care about them and that their satisfaction matters to us. This simple act of service breeds loyalty; and loyalty in today’s online world is the best form of advertising. Loyal customers will:
Buy from you over and over again
Tell their friends and family about you
Give you a positive 5-star-rating that you can display on your website
Provide a testimonial for you to share with new visitors
Offer unsolicited and solicited social recommendations (likes and follows)
When it comes to creating customer loyalty, business owners need to courageously ask each customer – either personally or through a rating and review automated survey like Shopper Approved – whether or not they are satisfied. The potential benefits for doing so far outweigh the negatives. After all, if you find there is an issue, and you resolve it quickly, business owners can stop the flood of negative press before it has a chance to be posted or tweeted.