A new year provides those in business an opportunity to set new goals and to do things differently. 2022 is an opportunity for our businesses to do better than last year. Here are four ways that can make your business stand out this year: –
Focus on Quality
Product and service quality is the centre of business success. The quality of the products we offer and the services we give build customer confidence. It does not matter what kind of business you are in; it is important to set standards for the quality of products and services that we offer. Quality is as defined by the customer. If we offer high quality, our customers will be ready to pay more for it and they will keep coming back. If we offer poor quality, some customers might never come back. Quality determines the value that our customers place on the products and services we offer. A starting point in understanding quality is to understand our customers’ expectations. The quality of our products and services should meet our customers’ expectations. What quality standards have you set for your business this year?
Be Reliable
Reliability is core to business success. Reliability means doing what we said we would do when we said we would do it. Reliability means keeping the promises that our businesses make. It means keeping the promises that our sales teams make. It means that our customers’ experience is reflective of our marketing messages. Just like quality, reliability builds customer confidence, it makes customers trust us more with what we say. To be reliable we need to consistently keep the promises we make to our customers.
Be Empathetic
Empathy is needed in the world of business more than ever before. Our customers need to feel that we care. They need to know that we care about them as people first. They need to see that we are sensitive to how they feel. All our points of interaction need some empathy. When our customers walk into our business, when they call us, when they email or contact us via the website or on social media, they expect that we will acknowledge them and listen to what they have to say. They expect that we will seek to understand what their needs are and act on them. Showing empathy makes our customers feel wanted and appreciated.
Act on Customer Feedback
Customers are often ready and willing to share their feedback with us. They often let us know what is not meeting their expectations. They are happy to point out what needs improvement. Through customer feedback, we get to know what is working and what needs fixing and we get better. There is no need for collecting customer feedback and doing nothing with it. If you want to see your business getting better this year, listen more to your customers, ask them for feedback and most importantly act on the feedback. The best time to collect customer feedback is soon after an interaction. Have someone independent reach out to the customer and find out how their experience was. It is not enough to conduct an annual customer satisfaction survey. Collect customer feedback every day and act on it.
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu is a Management Consultant and Trainer. Connect via Twitter @KiruthuLucy
