Customer satisfaction makes an important contribution to maximizing profit. Other factors increase business revenue, they include cost control, productivity, and marketing strategy but customer satisfaction is the greatest of them all. When customers are satisfied, they increase the opportunity for repeated sales to them. Having a wide range of companies competing for the same customer, the customers are therefore in a position of power. With such power in their hands, if they’re not easily satisfied with a brand’s experience, they are quick to get the next company that offers similar service and will satisfy their needs. Customer satisfaction helps to gain the trust of customers thereby increasing their loyalty. Satisfied customers will always talk about your products to potential customers, increasing the opportunity for additional revenue.
• What is customer satisfaction?
Customer satisfaction, as the name implies, measures the level of contentment customers have towards a product, service, or experience. . Satisfied customers are the most major factor that contributes to the success of a business. It is, therefore, necessary to pay more attention to this factor and always work on improving it.
A satisfied customer is definitely a loyal customer. A loyal customer will always return to you. Always have it in mind that a loyal customer is your brand ambassador. So if you don’t care about your customers, they will not care about your product or any service you have to offer.
Customer satisfaction has a direct relationship with increased business revenue. According to recent research, organizations can boost their revenue annually through improved client satisfaction. This applies to smaller brands and smaller-scale businesses too. The only thing to do is to identify the important elements impacting client satisfaction and use them to define and refine your customer strategies.
A lot of studies have shown that customer satisfaction increases revenue. Having satisfied customers is definitely a step in the right direction for your business. According to research, about 58% of customers will spend more on companies that give excellent customer service. No one likes to experience poor service. This is why companies today are doing all they can to make sure they meet the expectations of their customers and ensure the customers are satisfied. Any company that prioritizes customer’s satisfaction and wellbeing above every other thing will definitely generate more revenue because the customers will keep coming back. Everyone wants to feel special and will stay anywhere they are getting those services.
• Why is customer satisfaction so important?
To begin with, measuring customer satisfaction is a way to identify those of your customers that are dissatisfied. By knowing this, you can improve your services to them and ensure they are satisfied. When this is done, you can generate more revenue for your company. Besides, it is a way to avoid damaging the image of your company.
We live in a digital age, where most shopping experiences pass through the internet. All a person has to do is to make use of search engines online. The customer has access to any type of information about the company, which includes the opinion of other customers about your company. Now imagine you have dissatisfied customers, you’ll lose a potential customer just because of a dissatisfied customer’s comment.
As it stands, what will make your company have more customers is the opinion of friends, family, and even strangers on the internet about your customer service. You don’t want someone talking badly about the services provided by your company. This could make you lose sales thereby reducing your business revenue.
In a business or an organization, many factors can contribute to its success or failure. No company should ever ignore the importance of customer satisfaction.
Here are some points that explain how customer satisfaction influence sales:
- Develops Loyalty.
A satisfied customer will develop into a loyal customer. According to a study conducted, loyal customers are 8 times more valuable than first-timers. In terms of financial achievements, retaining a loyal customer is easier than building new ones as acquiring new customers is a more expensive task. Loyal customers are those who patronize your business repeatedly. They are those who will remain loyal to your business even if competitors offer a cheaper price for the same product. They are also the best referrers. Studies have shown that loyal customers are more likely to refer your company to others. They are not just loyal by making repeat purchases, but also by getting new customers for your company through positive comments.
You can rest assured that a happy and satisfied customer will never look elsewhere or leave you. There’s going to be higher retention and lower churn.
A 5% increase in retention increases profitability by as much as 25-95%. Let that sink in.
- Reduces Churn
Customer satisfaction is a major way to reduce customer churn. When customer satisfaction is measured, a company can make adjustments and adapt to new practices to improve the experience of the customers and the overall service to the customers. Most businesses think that the major reason for customer churn is the high price of a product but they are totally wrong. The main reason for that is the actually poor quality of customer service, according to a study conducted by Accenture.
A satisfied customer will always vouch for your good service at any time.
- Cost-effectiveness
As said earlier, acquiring new customers will cost a whole lot of money. A lot is being spent on finding new customers and developing new prospects for retaining them. Retaining new customers costs about seven times more than retaining existing customers. Also any company or business with great customer satisfaction can effectively retain all their customers with ease.
Customer satisfaction is a key differentiator from other businesses in the competitive business world. A successful company or business makes its customers satisfied at every point in time. As we know, satisfied customers attract more customers. An excellent rating for customer satisfaction gives companies the edge over other companies.
Customer satisfaction does not only influence sales and profit, it also develops the company to become better as a whole. Customer satisfaction also leads to company satisfaction.
5. Retention.
Competitive activity is one way in which a business stands the risk of losing customers. An average business loses 20 percent of its customers yearly. By improving customer satisfaction, you will be able to retain customers for a longer period and in return, they will continue to contribute to revenue and profitability. Customer satisfaction has a strong effect on business revenue because the cost of gaining new customers is greater than increasing sales to existing customers.
6. Value
Focusing on customer satisfaction and loyalty is essential in maintaining profitability. You can increase customer satisfaction by delivering value to your customers for them to keep coming back to get more of your products and services that meet their needs.
As long as your customers remain loyal to you, the more they are of value to your business. You can use a system of measurement such as lifetime customer value to determine the impact of customer satisfaction on long-term profitability. Lifetime customer value is the total profit a particular customer generates for you while they are in business with you.
7. Recommendation
When satisfied customers continue to share their opinion about your company with others, there is an indirect impact on your business revenue. When customer satisfaction is maximized and customers are encouraged to post their views on a company’s product review site, new customers can be attracted through those comments, thereby increasing sales and profitability.
According to Jeff Bezos, if you build a great experience for your customers, they’ll tell each other about it. Word of mouth is very powerful.
8. It helps you stand out in the competition
When your customers are not happy with your services, you’ll lose them to competitors. Your competitors are waiting for you to make that one mistake and they’ll snatch your customers from you in no time. This is going to cost you so much so you would not want to take chances. Contrary to this, if you provide awesome customer service, you’ll not only retain your customers and increase revenue for your business but you’ll also shut down critics.
9. Reduces negative word of mouth
The study proves that an unhappy customer will share his or her poor experience with a brand with more people than a happy customer will share his or her good experience with others. Bad news spreads more than good news! It cannot be overemphasized that customer satisfaction is directly linked to an increase in revenue and repeat purchases. Word of mouth is very important. Reduce the negative word of mouth by improving your customer service strategies.
10. Brand buzz.
Having a lot of people singing your praise all over social media and review sites is the best publicity you can ever have. Work to make it happen.
• Some other benefits of customer satisfaction include:
– You will have happy customers who are satisfied with the relationship they have with your brand.
– These customers become your brand ambassador, attracting more business opportunities for your company.
– Feedback from satisfied customers helps to get modern buyers. Studies show that 71% of people are likely to purchase a product after reading positive comments about the company.
– Your sales team becomes more serviceable.
– Companies with more satisfied customers have a great competitive advantage.
According to James Harrington, measurement is the first step that results in control then there can be chances for improvement. When you can measure something then you can understand it. After this, you can be able to control it. If you can control something, then you can improve it.
What are the relationship between business revenue and customer satisfaction?
1. Identify Customer Satisfaction elements.
Conduct research to know the elements that matter the most to your customers so that you can serve them right. For some, it could be the quality of the product, for some, it could be longevity or style. Whatever it is, if they get what they want and like, they will definitely return to you for future business.
2. Conduct client surveys
An online customer survey is a good way to know the elements that are more important to your individual customer. Every customer will be willing to provide feedback if you seek it. Design your survey based on your research focus. After getting a list of these elements, you’ll be able to know where to improve as a company.
3. Implement customer satisfaction strategies.
Implementing strategies to improve customer satisfaction is a good step in boosting business revenue. The way profit-making is important in a business is the way customer satisfaction and service should be important too. It should be part of the goals of your company. Ensure you always elevate your customer’s experience and satisfaction.
4. Customer Satisfaction Goals
What should your customer satisfaction goals include? Difficult to say. So only you can decide how exactly you want to satisfy your customers. Generally, you should be able to do things the simple way. You can use the SMART goal system, which is:
• S- Specific
• M- Measurable
• A- Achievable
• R- Relevant
• T- Time-bound
Keep your goals realistic. The first goal should be to get the customer satisfaction data then identify the problems and frequent complaints.
Then your goals should include increasing retention, reducing churning, increasing the number of completely satisfied customers.
Do what will benefit your business and your customers.
CONCLUSION.
Always strive to make your company better. Your customers should be taken seriously because their satisfaction generates revenue for your business. Take your customers seriously because they are the easiest way to take your brand to the top. A satisfied customer is a loyal customer. A loyal customer will keep coming back to patronize. A loyal customer will also say positive words and comments about your business. Aside from having a great product, an excellent customer service goes a long way in increasing the sales of a company. This way, you’re building a company with a reputation for always satisfying your customers.