The New Sales Journey – Putting the Customer First

Sale representatives and marketers all over the world know the importance of putting their customers first. Companies are well familiar with this phase and try to go to great lengths to make sure that their customers are always feeling satisfied with the services they provide them with.

If you are trying to increase your sales and you are trying to come up with new techniques and strategies on how to increase your customer satisfaction, you are looking at the right place. Here are some sure-fire ways to help you treat your customers like royalty.

1. Be kind and respectful

Each company has a few sets of rules which shape their working morale and help their employees know how to handle certain situations and problems. Being kind and respectful towards your customers is a great way of making them feel comfortable with you and your brand.

This can be achieved in a multitude of ways. First of all, you should always be mindful of the way you address your customers in any way you come in contact with them. Whether it’s through email, phone call or a direct message on your social media pages, you should always be respectful and kind, no matter what they may ask of you.

2. Know your products

Knowing your products will help you not only promote them better, but it will also allow you to get to know your customers better and solve any potential problems with more ease. Putting your customers first means that you are able to get in their position and give them the right recommendations.

By knowing the products better, you will be able to simplify their experience with your brand and guide them so they purchase products they will truly enjoy and need. This will also help you see if there is anything new that can be developed in order to make the customers’ satisfaction with your brand higher.

3. Offer them rewards

Whether your customers are new or loyal ones who have used and trusted your brand for a while, you should always make sure to reward them for choosing your products. Apart from this being a great marketing strategy which will encourage your customers to make another purchase, it will also show them just how much you appreciate them.

There are many things you can offer them as a reward. Some ideas consist of the following:

• Discount codes for certain items they have had on their wishlist
• Samples of products similar to those they have purchased
• Exclusive one-time offers for loyal customers
• Free shipping options for consecutive offers

All of these rewards can be sent to them through various means, either through emails, SMS or messages on their own accounts on your website. No matter the offer, they will feel special and valued since you took the time to reach out to them and give them a special, personal deal.

4. Ask for their feedback

“Receiving feedback is one of the best ways for you to improve your services, see where your strategies are flawed and allow you to gather valuable information in order to make your customers’ experience much smoother”, suggests Ruby Logan, Social Media Manager for IsAccurate.

No matter which step of the journey you find your customers at, you can always ask for feedback. Whether they speak to one of your customer support employees about a certain product or if they decide to leave a review on your website about a purchase they recently made, you can always send them a follow-up email and ask for their opinion on your products and your services.

You can even go as far as creating a small questionnaire which will consist of certain questions which can help your business gather some important information. For example, you can ask about their experience with a certain representative, if they would recommend your products to a friend or if they have any suggestions for improving your products or services.

It is also a good idea to encourage them to reach out to you with a personal email and express their thoughts about their experience through written text. Either way, this will be valuable for your brand and it will help you improve the way you handle your customers.

5. Make their problems a personal matter

When a customer reaches out to a brand about a problem they are encountering with an order, they are expecting the business to take their issue seriously and do their best to help them out. Offering quick and effective solutions is definitely the best way to deal with such matters.

As your business grows more and more, you will come to find that the problems your customers encounter will most of the time be of similar nature with one another. First and foremost, this is great because you will be able to tackle them head-on and correct them early on. On top of that, you will also be able to give your customers a quick solution or an explanation of why a certain issue happens.

The more you are able to tell them in regards to their problems, the more effort they will think you are putting into this situation. “Making your customers’ requests and issues a personal matter is all about listening closely to what they have to say, paying attention to certain details in regards to the problems and always letting them know you understand their point of view”, notes Karl Prier, Head of Customer Support for Studicus.

6. Always respond when they reach out

Last but not least, another part of making the customer feel valued is to never take too long to respond to their messages. When they reach out to you for any reason, whether it is in regards to restocking a certain product or anything else, even if it is unrelated, you should respond to them as quickly as possible.

Leaving their messages unread and without a response will most likely frustrate them as they are not able to understand that you might be receiving hundreds of similar messages on a daily basis. Automation can be a way to combat this issue to a certain extent but it strips the personalization away from most messages and that can make your brand look unapproachable and distant.

Think like a customer

“In order to make sure that you understand your customers’ needs, you will have to start thinking like a customer”, suggests Owen Dyke, Content Creator for WowGrade. If you wish to achieve that, the tips mentioned previously will truly help you get a better understanding of their point of view.

Do you think it is important to put the customers first? Let us know in the comment section below.

About the Author

Estelle Liotard is a seasoned content writer and a blogger, with years of experience in different fields of marketing. She is a content editor at Trust My Paper and loves every second of it. Her passion is teaching people how to overcome digital marketing obstacles and help businesses communicate their messages to their customers.