Before you can even make your customers happy, you need to understand their psyche. It is through this that you can actually find the ways on how to best serve them which will lead to you being able to give the most memorable experience you can to your customers. So what are the three things that your market is usually thinking? Read on below and find out.
Mindset 1: Convenience rules!
Value hunters, fanatics, and early adopters will wait in line for hours for a new product. But unless you’re pushing the newest iPhone, you need to put yourself in the customers’ shoes. How long are you willing to wait for cable installation? How many forms will you voluntarily fill out to return an appliance under warranty?
Has pushing back deadlines become normal for your service company? Do you have a script for asking customers to come back the next day? Even having to wait at home for the cable company to send someone over is maddening. Eliminate the hassle where possible, and find a way to lift your customers’ minds from the hassle by giving value to their time.
Online, user experience (UX) specialists advise you on how many clicks your customer needs for transactions. A login can be either beneficial or detrimental to your customer. If the benefits are clear, like recommendations based on their shopping history, your login might not be a hassle. Make sure you communicate your company’s value proposition in each step they have to take.
Customer Experience Measurement allows you to review how your customer sees a sign-up form, or a validation procedure over the phone, and to see whether the time they spend waiting in a queue has any relevance to why they came to you in the first place.
Mindset 2: The smart shopper.
Dollar stores in the US boomed in the housing crunch, and mega-stores took notice. But have you wondered how dollar stores work and turn a profit?
Marketing the value of thrift attracts practical spenders. But for every one of these penny pinchers, there’s another who just can’t resist a set of Dwarf Condiment Dispensers when they actually just came in for a bottle of dishwashing liquid.
There are multiple ways to upsell. Offering great value is one of them.
In contrast, some restaurants in the US did the opposite. They reduced the size of their portions and kept the prices high. They also imitated the fancy, Michelin restaurants that put plate design high on the list of ingredients. These restaurants also did well. Why? Because diners wanted the experience of high fashion dining.
The point? Don’t limit yourself to offering practical value. Offer things that can’t be easily quantified, like personalized service, partial donations to charity, rush jobs without added cost, or your customers’ photos on the wall of your restaurant.
No matter how smart, we all respond to emotional stimuli, like the wait staff’s eagerness to please us, the memorabilia on the wall, or winning instant freebies.
Mindset 3: The loyal
Service makes the transaction. Great service transcends it.
Today more than ever, brands, including yours, are fighting for the loyalty of consumers. It’s not enough to sell coffee. Now, it’s a plus to call your customers by name, have comfortable chairs and play commercial jazzy tunes that you can buy at the counter.
Also, it really scores loyalty points to call out the source of your coffee, whether it’s fair trade or shade grown, and whether the potato chips sold at the counter have an artisan, rustic packaging.
It’s wise to take a look at other businesses, find one that mirrors your ethos, and see what route they took. Do they have a CSR (corporate social responsibility) program, like do they have a favorite or local charity? Do they take principled stands against public issues like whaling or the war on plastics? Do they support the local youth teams or do they source their supplies and ingredients locally? Does the owner frequently make announcements on their website? And can you find them on twitter, and do they have a perfectly talkative community manager?
Your Mindset
All told, there are lots of ways to extend the spirit of customer service to match the lifestyles of your consumers. Just remember that the first thing you need to do when applying for the hearts and minds of customers is you need to strike a balance of sensitivity to what they want out of a business like yours, and the strong sentiment you and your employees share, if any.
To delve deeper into what your business can provide in terms of customer satisfaction and more, turn to CEM, or Customer Experience Measurement. You may leave a comment for further information. MP:)
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