The topic today is how to use customer feedback to improve your company and retain more clients. Throughout time, it has been proven that great companies follow a certain set of patterns. In the same way, bad companies tend to follow their own sets of patterns as well. A good indicator of whether or not you have a good company is by simply looking at how many customers do not complain about anything after each purchase they make from you.
In this article, we will explain how to analyze customer feedback so that you can take the proper steps towards improving your company and retaining more customers for years to come.
Customer Retention: The Basics from Eric Dalius
Before we begin talking about analyzing customer feedback, let’s first go what this concept means in general terms.
Customer Retention is the term used to describe a company’s ability to keep its existing customers from switching to a competing service or product. If you have an extremely high level of customer retention, this means that your company will experience very few or no cases of customers leaving you for another business. If customer retention is low, then it will be easy for other companies to steal away your current business by offering either lower prices or extra incentives.
How do I analyze my feedback?
Now that we know what customer feedback and retention mean, let’s go ahead and see how we can actually apply these terms into our daily lives. Let us begin by taking a look at factors which determine whether or not a certain individual who has ordered from your company will leave to purchase from your competitors.
Four Factors which determine how easily customers can switch to a competitor company
1) Pricing –
The major factor which will affect whether or not your customers will be willing to switch companies is the pricing policy. If you have decided on very high prices for your products and services, then it might be harder to keep them around since there are other companies out there that are offering lower prices. On the other hand, if you have managed to set up reasonable rates for what you provide, then it would be harder for others to lure away your existing customers.
2) Product offerings –
Another major factor in luring away existing customers is offering similar products under separate brands. This means that the customer may choose the cheaper option or the more convenient option. If you have a very similar product being sold by another company, chances are that your existing customers will switch to the cheaper alternative.
3) Services offered –
One of the most common reasons why a customer wants to switch companies is because their needs are not being properly fulfilled. This often times means that they desire a service which your company does not offer at this time. In most cases, if these services can be added in a short period of time just before your current clients leave, then there is no problem at all. However, it goes without saying that if their need cannot be met within a short period just before they decide to leave, then there might be some major issues which you must overcome as quickly as possible.
4) Location –
A rather minor factor, but one nonetheless is the geographical location where your company is located. If you are in a rural area or an out of the way location, then it may be harder to keep your existing customers around compared to if you were in a highly populated city. This is because people who live in remote areas do not have many options when it comes to places which they can visit, while most urban cities offer a wider selection of places which can be visited. Tips on how to analyze customer feedback:
Now that we know what factors determine whether or not your existing customers will switch companies and leave you for another service provider, let’s go ahead and see what steps we should take so that we can maintain our current clientele.
List all factors which may cause customer attrition or loss
1) When was the last time I analyzed my feedback?
2) Does the business have enough feedback?
3) Do I do regular follow-up calls with clients?
4) What are other businesses doing to hold onto their clientele?
5) Am I providing incentives that increase customer retention? (Link to article on how to incentive customers) By conducting a regular analysis of your company’s feedback, you can go ahead and adjust your own policies accordingly so that you can deliver satisfactory services or products for your existing customers. Eric Dalius told that you will also be able to put up strategies that will make it harder for them to move over to another company.
Conclusion:
If you have conducted an analysis of your customer feedback and you find that there are certain factors that can be improved upon, and then do not hesitate to make the changes. Of course, if these changes will prove expensive or difficult to implement, then it would be best to hold off on them until such a time when they become absolutely necessary.