Every customer has their expectation.
Your ability to meet or exceed each of their expectations will go a long way in building a formidable relationship with them.
Speed, authenticity, and care are some of the key customer expectations identified by Roy Barnes and Bob Kelleher in the 11 key customer expectations.
With the advent of new technologies like Facebook and Twitter, customers are becoming more expectant and demanding.
Some factors that influence customer expectations include their previous experience with your company or with other companies, your communication platforms, and reviews.
In this post, you will learn the seven tips to guide you in managing your customer expectations.
1. Be Honest.
No one likes to be lied to in relationships let alone in a business where money is involved. No customer wants to read one thing on your website and hear another thing from any staff of the organization. The information you provide should be true and consistent across all your platforms.
Honesty will help you to build trust in your customers.
If a member of staff isn’t sure about the answer to a problem, they should consult another member of staff who has the answer. That way, everyone stays on the same page.
2. Be Where Your Customers Like To Be.
Customers rarely visit their banks these days.
They prefer going to reliable social media platforms where they can tag their banks and get quick attention.
Customers can be impatient. After all, their money is the piece at stake.
They need answers, if possible, as fast as the speed of light. They care less if it’s day or night. That is why you must also be available at all times.
If a customer makes two unsuccessful transactions from their phone with Bank A and Bank B. The one that is faster in resolving the issue via its social media platform is more likely to win the customer all to itself.
3. Earn Their Loyalty.
Loyalty in business is never bought but earned.
To earn your customer loyalty, you must first be honest, then build trust with it. This trust will be the foundation of their loyalty.
If a loyal customer gets dissatisfied by a particular service rendered, creating an ugly situation may be very difficult because of their loyalty.
Some ways of developing customer loyalty as highlighted by the customer thermometer are personalizing communication with their names, regularly and routinely communicating with them, etc.
4. Be Informed And Prepared.
Every staff member should be well informed and prepared to serve your customers.
It is not the sole duty of the customer representatives to answer questions relating to products and services, but that of every member of staff of that organization.
Everyone in the hierarchy who makes contact with customers must be informed and prepared to give answers.
A study conducted in the UK showed that over 50% of buyers expect a response within 30 minutes when they are interested in knowing more about a product or service.
5. Be Optimistic and Realistic
It is important to be optimistic about a situation, but then as a customer representative, your optimism must be matched with reality.
To be realistic means you understand the complexity of a problem and the time frame within which the problem can be resolved.
And you’re able to communicate it to your customers subtly and convincingly.
6. Follow Up and Exceed Their Expectation
After resolving the problem of a customer, you should do a follow-up to appreciate their concerns and ask if they were satisfied by the way the problem was handled.
It is a good habit to request that they fill up a survey form to help the company improve the products and services. Also, you should create polls on social media to know the minds of other customers to avert or prepare for future problems.
7. Put The Customer First.
Above everything, put the customer first. When things go sour within the workplace, they should never affect your relationship with the customer.
Your customers have ears and are most likely to be on social media to know what is going on in your firm.
Assure them that everything is being resolved internally. Remember, the cost of retaining a customer is far less than getting a new one.
These tips will help you manage your customer expectations, and exceed them satisfactorily.
Now that you’ve learned how to manage your customer expectations, don’t forget that when your business begins to grow and you need support for product innovation, expansion, or purchase of more equipment, CashDrive provides business loans for you to achieve your business dreams.