Engaging with Your Customers Will Greatly Increase Loyalty and Sales
Customer Engagement: The Key to Increased Loyalty
Austin, Texas: I recently wrote a recent blog post about the importance of customer surveys to better gauge your customer feedback. This should definitely be done on a regular basis so you can find both areas of strength and areas of weakness.
But how are you engaging your customers on a regular basis.
Marketing guru Seth Godin wrote a blog post about the many opportunities business people have each day of asking open ended questions to learn more about their business. This would include everything from operations to product quality, customer service, pricing, etc.
It is wrong to take the easy way out and shrug off negative feedback. Or just to make a note of a problem or situation, but to not further explore its roots.
Talk to your customers every chance you can and ask probing questions. Then listen. Then ask some more.
The feedback you can gather is immeasurable.
Have you ever dined out but got such poor customer service that you never went back again? Did you share your concerns with the manager? Did he care? Did he want to see what they could do to resolve the issue and better please you?
We have all had these experiences–whether you run a restaurant, clothing store or an online business.
Call your old customers and ask why they haven’t bought from you in a long while.
Ask customers open-ended questions to capture their true feelings.
As Seth Godin says, “Open conversations generate loyalty, sales and most of all, learning… for both sides.”
Are you brave enough to hear what your customers want to tell you?
I hope so. Your business will be the better for it, even if your pride suffers a little.
