Customers feeling undervalued is the last thing any business owner wants. Loyal customers help ensure the continued existence of small businesses, and making them feel undervalued is unlikely to serve any fledgling enterprise well. However, even if you recognize the importance of good customers, there’s a chance you and your employees – either intentionally or inadvertently – engage in certain behaviors that would suggest otherwise. So, if any of the following mistakes are regularly made by you or anyone associated with your business, take care to refine your approach to customer service accordingly.
Failing to Thank Them for Their Patronage
If there’s one thing customers don’t like, it’s feeling unappreciated. Everyone likes being appreciated by their favorite businesses, and if you consistently fail to show your patrons how much you value their support, there’s a good chance you’ll lose it. That being the case, you should never pass up an opportunity to thank your customers for their patronage or let them know how important their continued support is to your business.
With this in mind, make a point of ending every customer communication by thanking them for their patronage. Whether it’s an in-person interaction, phone call, email or text message, take care to express gratitude every time you communicate with a customer.
Refusing to Take Responsibility for Mistakes
We’ve all known people who would say or do anything to avoid owning up to their own mistakes. Unsurprisingly, we generally don’t enjoy interacting with these individuals. A vehement refusal to acknowledge or make amends for your own missteps won’t do your personal relationships or professional endeavors any favors.
No matter how high a standard you hold yourself or your employees to, it can’t be denied that every business makes mistakes. While it’s fine to strive for a mistake-free operation, the occasional blunder is bound to be made. Although you may think that mistakes themselves are what cost businesses customers, it’s often a business’s response to its mistakes that rubs patrons the wrong way.
Refusing to acknowledge or own up to mistakes on your part is practically guaranteed to make customers feel frustrated and undervalued. Not acknowledging mistakes may be a personal point of pride, but such behavior will neither endear you to customers nor earn you repeat business. This may bring you personal satisfaction in the short term, but it will also lose you customers and generate negative word of mouth. So, the next time an error on your end is brought to your attention, avoid becoming defensive or trying to blame the customer for your own shortcomings. Instead, take a moment to step outside of yourself and see things from the customer’s perspective. Next, apologize for any inconvenience your mistake has caused the customer and do anything you can to make things right.
You may come to find that a lot of customers are willing to forgive mistakes as long as proper amends are made. Admitting your mistakes and taking active measures to rectify them illustrates a strong commitment to customer satisfaction that many patrons are unlikely to forget.
Not Keeping Them in the Loop
Modern-day consumers love staying current with the latest news about their favorite brands and businesses. This is among the reasons they follow popular brands on social media and regularly visit the websites of the small businesses they frequent. As such, if you’re not working to keep your customers in the loop, you may inadvertently be making them feel undervalued.
Luckily, there are a number of easy ways to nip this problem in the bud. For starters, make a point of updating each of your business’s social media accounts on a daily basis. Additionally, since many posts can be used on multiple platforms, you won’t have to worry about crafting new content for every account on a daily basis. You can also keep your customers informed through a good e-newsletter or convenient bulk text system.
It’s in the best interest of every business to ensure that patrons feel valued and respected. Since regular customers hold the key to any enterprise’s success, skimping in this area doesn’t bode well for your long-term sustainability. Still, without even realizing it, a fair number of businesses engage in behaviors that cause customers to feel as if their patronage isn’t appreciated. In the interest of showing your customers due appreciation, take care to avoid the missteps discussed above.