Dozens of aspects contribute to the success or failure of a business; customer satisfaction is one of them. It is therefore critical for companies to monitor their customer satisfaction rates and integrate measures to ensure that clients are not just happy with the solutions they receive, but are also willing to refer other clients.
One thing is sure – if you don’t go the extra mile to show the clients you care, don’t expect them to care about your solution.
So, why is customer satisfaction so important? Why is it termed as the foundation of business success? If you are interested in uncovering the answers to these questions, read on.
But first, what is customer satisfaction?
Simply put, customer satisfaction is a measure of how solutions supplied by a business meet or exceed the expectation of the customers. By solutions, we mean products and services.
Here is why it is critical:
It’s cheaper to retain happy clients than finding new ones.
The stiffening competition in the market has seen companies up their marketing strategies to drive clients into their business, and hopefully, make sales. However, it beats logic to go through all this stress and expenses only to lose the client, and resume the cycle. It’s much easier and cheaper to deliver what you promise or even better, so the client has no reason to leave.
It’s not about the price.
Customers do not want to feel like another number – they want to know they matter. According to research, a majority of clients prefer working with a company that charges higher prices but goes out of their way to make them satisfied, than those that offer cheap but low-quality customer services. For that reason, you should take it upon yourself to always deliver excellent service because it’s critical than shoving low prices on the clients’ faces.
It helps you differentiate yourself from your peers.
If you think about it, everyone is looking to sell more and make more money. But you don’t have to join this bandwagon – make your solutions customer-centric. This way, your brand becomes associated with stellar services. Before you know it, you’ll be attracting more customers and potentially making more money than your competitors.
It promotes customer retention.
A satisfied client is a happy client – and this is the best guarantee that they will come back whenever they need a service you provide. After all, you have everything they are looking for, on top of excellent customer service – why would they think about going to your competitors? In addition to retention rates, customer satisfaction also promotes loyalty – they will keep coming back, and sometimes, with a friend or two. And that’s how your business grows, through referrals.
It increases customer lifetime value (CLV).
Customer satisfaction is critical to your bottom line. A study by InfoQuest revealed that a client who is fully satisfied contributes 2.6X more revenue than one who is fairly satisfied. Successful companies know how significant the customer lifetime value is – so, they dedicate their resources to increase their CLV.
