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By Sierra Powell

Customer satisfaction is crucial if you want a successful small business. Your business isn’t an island in a vast ocean. It competes with over 31 million other companies. So, customer satisfaction is a crucial necessity to reach your bursting points. Here are a few tips to make this happen.

Active listening

Before you offer multi-channel support or other communication methods, you must learn how to listen actively. You must prepare to listen to and observe verbal and non-verbal messages. You can’t go into a conversation with half an ear while the rest of your brain works on other tasks.

You must be present to listen actively. It’s the only way to provide appropriate feedback to the customer. Plus, active listening also helps gain a sense of the issue to come up with the proper resolution.

The concept goes for your and your employees. Anyone with a front-facing connection with customers must

Multi-channel support

Customer engagement comes with active listening. You can’t understand what products and services your clients need. So, expand support channels to maximize the ways customers connect with you.

It goes beyond email and text. You need a customer relationship management (CRM) application to engage clients through live chats and a trouble-ticket mechanism. Also, consider social media support as an alternative. Don’t forget to consider phone support as a primary source of customer connection.

Surveys

The above suggestions provide a percentage of customer satisfaction. It takes a survey to obtain a broader understanding of what your clients like. Fortunately, there are simple methods available.

Several websites offer customizable survey templates for little or no cost. They’re available as attachments or links for your website or email campaigns. Further, these sites allow you to see the survey results.

Take this option seriously, especially if you notice a dip in customer satisfaction. You may need minor changes to stabilize the situation. On the other hand, survey results could provide new insight into reinventing your company.

Collecting feedback must be a company-wide process. Whether it’s sales, customer support, or billing, each department should ask customers to offer their opinions after each transaction. There’s no such thing as too many data points in a business. Thus, maximize surveys and other methods to gain customer opinions.

Don’t ignore negative customer feedback

It’s easy to ignore a client’s negative feedback. After all, what do a handful of unsatisfactory comments mean when the majority are positive. In truth, they mean much more, as ignored feedback gets views more than the good about your company.

Don’t ignore this feedback. On the contrary, these items must be considered a priority to your salespeople and customer service representatives. Ensure they have the proper escalation procedures to reach out to management and yourself. Directly contact the clients and keep them updated on progress. Once you resolve the situation, follow up with the customer to determine if it meets their needs.

Packaging

Sometimes, customer satisfaction isn’t related to your offerings. Instead, it’s connected to how they’re packaged and delivered. Cheap containers and tape are unprofessional and cause safety issues during delivery.

Well-packaged items keep your products safe and your customers satisfied. Thus, consider heavy-duty corrugated boxes and the proper adhesives to ensure your product’s stability. Further, repeatedly remind your shipping vendors of the proper ways to deliver your materials.

Education

The most powerful tool a business owner has is knowledge. It goes beyond product development and technology. You and your employees continually need to absorb information to maintain customer satisfaction.

Once-a-year online courses won’t help. Ongoing training is necessary to keep customer satisfaction in the minds of your employees and yourself. Your education should consist of online and live training sessions. On top of this, look into different methods to increase productivity and, in turn, increase customer satisfaction.

For example, review information on agile methodology. Software development companies have adopted this practice to achieve measurable goals. However, it’s practical in other business sectors to improve the happiness of employees and customers.

Customer satisfaction needs to be on par with product development. In the end, you can’t have one without the other. Thus, consider the above suggestions to increase your customers’ positive responses. Carefully review each one to determine if you currently use them. If not, develop a plan to smoothly implement them in your daily operations.

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Sierra Powell graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a major in Mass Communications and a minor in Writing. She’s passionate about writing, reading, and learning. When she’s not writing, she loves to cook, sew, and go hiking with her dogs. You can find her on Twitter at @sierra_writer.