The importance of ensuring customer satisfaction in any business can never be over-emphasized. In fact, small- and medium-sized businesses and big brands alike are all aware of what customer experience plays in the success of any entrepreneurial endeavor.
Data show that companies that put a highlight on customer experience are earning four to eight percent higher than companies that don’t exert efforts to make their customers happy. Additionally, companies that focus on this concept lead by as much as 80 percent when compared with fellow businesses that think customer experience should take the backseat.
The end-result of customer experience efforts is called customer retention, or the ability of companies to lure clients to stay loyal to them. Customer retention is critical in building a company’s client base because, without it, it will lose clients by the hundreds at a staggering pace.
If you want to retain customers and improve customer experience, making your business accessible is one key technique to achieve these goals. But, just how do you go about it? Here are five business features that will make your business highly accessible to your customers:
1. Establish a customer hotline and email account.
In today’s internet-driven world, customers expect businesses to have a system in place to take in questions and concerns about the products or services the business offers. As such, you have to establish a dedicated customer hotline and an email account that customers can call or send their queries to. Part of ensuring a great customer experience is also giving an immediate response to client concerns and queries, so be sure to have a dedicated staff for these matters.
2. Offer hassle-free deliveries.
During the pandemic, people were cautious about going out to buy stuff they need, so they relied heavily on companies that offer a delivery service. If your business happens to involve food or non-food items that can be sent to customers via courier, then it’s only logical to have this feature. This way, your customers can still access the products that you offer but without exposing themselves to possible COVID-19 transmission.
3. Accept credit and debit cards in POS terminals.
If your business has resumed its normal operations where clients can enter your premises to buy things or avail of your services, then accepting payments via POS terminals should be on the menu. There are quite a big number of customers who find it highly convenient not to carry cash with them when shopping or availing of services, so it’s a behavior that you have to capture. Your customers will surely appreciate such an awesome accessibility feature, and they will likely come back to support your business.
4. Consider investing in the development of a mobile app.
Businesses invest in hiring app developers to develop customized apps that help them become highly accessible to clients. In today’s tech-savvy atmosphere, having such a tool to make your business well within your customer’s reach is a huge advantage. Through your dedicated mobile app, customers can make reservations or place orders, settle their bills via partner payment systems like PayPal and Payoneer, and just have a breeze interacting with your business. It’s a value proposition that’s truly hard to beat.
5. Be visible on the web.
Just like being accessible by having an email account and a customer hotline, your customers will also feel easily connected with your business when you have a dedicated business website and social media accounts. Customers these days are increasingly gearing towards these channels since they are online most of the time. For them, businesses that are visible on the web through these channels are businesses that care for their customers’ convenience, which is something that other ventures do not offer.
By having these handy features, your business will surely gain the trust and loyalty of customers who prefer businesses that are highly accessible to them.
