Best Customer Retention Program Must Include This
Every single customer retention program must include actions to let the customers know they are being heard. This is the number one strategy that must be included in every retention plan. If a customer does not feel as if the company is not really listening, all other strategies may fail. It’s that important.
Historically, most Customer Service Departments are established to be therapists for distraught customers. To listen to customers who want or need to complain. That’s of high value although it may not ultimately solve all the problems. The very fact that a company has some kind of method to listen to customers goes a long way.
Listen to this to see why this woman is a happy customer:
Many companies use customer satisfaction surveys to demonstrate they are listening to their customers. You will hear me rant on and on about this: Customer satisfaction surveys do not demonstrate that a company is listening to its customers!!!! These surveys are false indicators within a customer retention program. In fact, surveys demonstrate that a company expects customers to do all the work to make the company better.
On the other hand, surveys do play a part in providing a forum for the company and the customer to come to an understanding. The customer will only feel he/she has been listened to if the company is honorable enough to respond to customers – after the survey has been analyzed – with statements about what it heard. “Thank you for participating in our survey and this is what we heard from you. These are the actions we will be taking based on what you told us.”
Seriously, it almost sounds too easy. Each and every company on the planet should know EXACTLY what they have in place to let their customers genuinely feel as if they are being heard. Yes, customers want discounts. Yes, customers want more stuff, yet more than that, they want to be heard.
Every program designed to achieve the best in customer retention, must include methods of really hearing what customers have to say.
