While the old phrase, “The customer is always right,” isn’t quite as prevalent today, there’s still a significant focus on client relationships in business. This is particularly true in an e-commerce world where geographical boundaries are no longer the barriers they once were.
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This expansion of options comes with a double-edged sword of online reviews and enhanced word-of-mouth reputation. If your experience with a client goes well, they may share their positive opinion online for hundreds of others to see. But if it goes poorly, that negative interaction can damage your business’s carefully cultivated reputation.
We live in a society where everyone is free to state their opinions about a business, yet businesses are expected to stand up for their employees against consumer bullying. It can be a fine line to walk, but when you create a client-centric culture as a default environment, you quickly prevent damaging experiences from defining your company. This article discusses how to build a client-focused culture in any business.
1. Put the Client’s Experience At the Center of Your Processes
Without your clients, you have no business. Many business owners forget this as they take their customers for granted. Instead, design your work processes around the individual client experience, considering their preferences and encouraging your team to focus on customer care above all else.
This focus means enabling your team to explore flexibility and adaptive measures that might not be the “norm.” Offer your employees the ability to choose less-traveled yet professional paths to reach customer satisfaction. Listen to consumer feedback, and use those suggestions to evolve the options your team provides.
Doing this means training your employees to make in-the-moment decisions and ensuring they have the power to follow through with their promises to each client. This step is created during onboarding and training when new hires work with mentors to learn and develop strategies for client-centric results.
2. Have Open Communication
What do your clients say about your employees in their feedback? These insights can be excellent learning experiences for your team. Use the analytics as growing points rather than coming to your workers from an attack-and-defend standpoint.
In a client-centric business, those in charge and those who interact with clients regularly understand that there will be less-than-satisfied customers. Through an open communication environment, your team feels comfortable discussing where they think they may have gone off track to evaluate the client’s experience and learn from it. In open discussions, positive interactions also become learning experiences for others.
3. Follow the Metrics
You’ve developed processes that empower your team to adapt to your client’s needs, but how do you know if they’re working? The key to retaining loyal customers is to pay attention to the metrics and adjust your tactics as necessary.
In a small business, it’s easy to notice when a regular client walks away or stops returning. But as you get busier, many of your once-loyal customers can slip through the cracks. This article by Accelo explains how to calculate your consumer retention rates and improve them when they aren’t the numbers you want to see for growth.
4. Get Proactive
Finally, a client-centric business is always on the frontlines, waiting to be proactive when necessary. Following the metrics is one type of proactive measure, but those numbers aren’t front-and-center. Your company must show that it is dedicated to client satisfaction by addressing any issues when they occur. This goal is achieved through a strong client support team.
Offer your employees the tools and power to listen to clients’ concerns and resolve the problems without escalating the issue to a manager. This step alleviates most clients’ frustrations without leaving them time to stew about their worries while waiting for a “higher-up” to call them back.
With instant customer service, your team proves that your business is dedicated to being proactive about its client’s needs and has the tools to follow through with its word. Your reputation becomes less about the problems the consumer experienced and more about the impressive way your team went above and beyond to solve the issue.
Conclusion
Your business’s reputation matters in a world where it can often be your word versus a disgruntled client’s. When you’re known as a company with a client-centric culture, potential future consumers feel more comfortable ignoring a negative review or two.
Creating this atmosphere means hiring and training those on the frontline of client communication and empowering them to adopt flexible strategies to reach customer satisfaction. Request and listen to client feedback, use those suggestions to adjust your processes, and monitor metrics. With those proactive steps, you’ll naturally build a company with a strong client-centric culture.
