Customers are what makes a business a business. Without customers, your business is best a hobby - a boring one at that. No business can continue to exist without customers, regardless of the amount of investment and resources available. And that is why it is imperative that businesses not only work on retaining customers but also on acquiring new ones.
Customer experience has now become a dominant influence/factor in product development and decision making. Operative strategies for growth that are hurtful to customers have taken the back seat. Customers have now learnt to demand more and hold businesses accountable for their actions. Consequently, there have been several efforts to communicate the importance of customers and how to manage customers to ensure the success of your business.
However, in improving customer experience, there is no better way than to learn from the customers themselves. In this post, we will be discussing some of the ways you can learn from your customers on improving your products and implementing effective customer strategies.
Social Media Monitoring
Many people use social media, with many people belonging to at least two social media platforms. Trends and discussion on social media is a way to study consumer behaviour and get their opinions about your products and services. Many social media platforms encourage open conversations and have a considerable influence on purchase choice. Social media also gives you insight into what your competitors are doing differently to keep their customers.
Survey and Questionnaire
This traditional way of gathering opinions has remained relevant despite its increasingly low participation. Many customers might skip taking your survey, but some customers will take it, and no matter how little, their opinion counts. This format allows you to gather relevant and organized data for your business. You can ask questions about specific services and features. You can send it to your email subscribers or people who visit your site. Whichever form you choose, make it optional and engaging. Forcing a survey on customers would only contribute to poor customer experience.
Keywords Search
Keywords give you an insight into what customers need and are willing to buy. Knowing what people are looking for can inform your product development and design. Keywords also help with your product descriptions and website content. This way, new customers can readily locate your site.
Ask / Interview Customers
Some customers will not complain until asked. Some will even have suggestions but will not use your feedback box. Randomly calling to follow up, asking for their opinions on how they have found your products, and areas they think you can improve will help generate useful resources. The advantage of this is not learning from them only. You also leave a good impression of being customer-centric. And it contributes to a great customer experience.
Some customers might not feel comfortable getting a random call, so this should not be the primary source of gathering feedback and opinions. Ask if they are willing to proceed with the conversation. You can create a call subscription list or ask email subscribers if they would not mind getting a one-time follow-up call.
Feedback and Suggestion Box
Getting feedback from your customers is very vital for your growth. Feedback can help point to a problem you did not even know was there. Having a feedback and suggestion system in place encourages customers that though something is wrong, it can be rectified. Customers will suggest what they think you should do and will stop them from choosing your competitors.
Blog and Social Media Comments
Observing and engaging comments on blogs and social media is also a great way to learn from customers. These platforms usually generate honest opinions from people. Follow blogs that write about the services in your industry, observe the comments on competitors' blogs and your blogs. Do the same on social media platforms. You can conduct a poll, ask a question, influence and start conversations, then observe people's responses.
Google Analytics
With google analytics, you can learn a lot about the people who are navigating your website, what they are searching for, and the products in which they are most interested. You can also get information on their gender and age, interests, and devices.
Consumer behaviours will continue to evolve, so learning from customers never ends. To deliver great products and ensure a great customer experience, companies must invest enough time and resources into finding out what exactly customers want, and how they can meet these demands. What they think of their products, and how they address these concerns. It is essential for the success of your business.
