Here are some simple initiatives that Business Owners can take to improve the level of satisfaction they achieve for their customers.

Organisation

Consider customers and their needs as you design your organisation. If your business is growing (or otherwise changing) very quickly, then you may fall into the trap of designing organisational structures solely on the basis of what works best for you. It is important that your organisation structure and processes are lean and efficient, but when you make compromise decisions – try to make them such that the customer’s life gets easier – you will gain more by improved loyalty and referrals than you lose in cost.

Surveys

You should conduct customer surveys. However, you should also ensure that you act on their findings. And tell your customers you acted (perhaps in a newsletter).

Measures

Establish measures which ensure that people talk about customer satisfaction. Depending on the nature of your business, these might include items such as:

• Rate of repeat purchases
• Frequency of purchase
• Customer satisfaction level
• Number of complaints outstanding/ not resolved
• Defect rate
• % complete and on time delivery
• Warranty claims levels
• Number of complaining telephone calls

Empowerment

Give your team the authority to make things right – without having to get permission. If your firm messes up, it should not take 3 telephone calls and a consultation with “My Supervisor” to fix things. Measure the costs of these gestures and make sure that guidelines are clear and unambiguous, but there should be no need for a person you hired (and therefore trust) to have to get permission to make a refund against a genuine error.

Involvement

Get the whole team involved. Include a constructive session on how to improve the customer experience in team meetings. Use your management skills to create the cheerful, here to make it right for you attitude.

Make it Your Fault

When things go wrong, make it your fault. There are countless stories of firms successfully up-selling on the back of a well managed customer complaint. There are many more stories of disaffected customers telling all their contacts how you messed up. The response is usually emotional - but you have a choice. Which option you select can make a big difference to your long term success - even though the short term impact may seem daunting.

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