“Our customer base grows by the happy customers that go out of our doors,” – Lee Densmore
Every business enterprise should work to achieve total customer satisfaction. We could say that this pursuit of customer satisfaction remains an ongoing project in most enterprises, but the forthright pursuit of the metric can yield distinct business outcomes. We must bear in mind that the business metrics of quality, efficiency, service, and reliability have a direct impact on customer relationships and customer satisfaction. Happy existing customers should be counted as a business asset because these individuals help to generate goodwill. This intangible, on its part, can lead to higher customer loyalty, increase the annual revenue of a business, and help to attract new customers in the competitive markets of modern times. These facts clearly indicate that a business should cultivate such customers through the firm-wide implementation of the best customer service standards. In fact, customer happiness should be a top priority for every business enterprise that intends to operate over the long term.
The structure of large modern business enterprises necessitates a boardroom and an executive management group. These bodies serve as the stewards of business and bring to bear significant volumes of work experience on business operations. We could say that the collective wisdom of the group helps to steer the business enterprise. When the said business acquires and services happy existing customers, it gains the added benefit of the suggestions and the ideas that originate in customers’ minds. Consider this: a commercial organization that manufactures and markets furniture and home décor can tap customers to gain significant insights into product design. The business can make it a priority to tap customer feedback because happy existing customers can offer insights and inputs to the said business. This information can help the business to fashion new innovation into its products and services. These efforts can help the business to create new blockbuster products that help it gain an edge over the commercial competition. We must bear in mind that this whole process hinges on innovation powered by inputs from existing customers.
Happy existing customers can help a business to expand its operations by attracting more customers. These clients can recommend the products and services of a specific business to family and friends. Studies of customer behaviour indicate that people are more likely to trust such recommendations. Therefore, customer conversions scale up in the aftermath of such recommendations resulting in higher sales for the business. We must note that the domino effect comes into play here because satisfied customers can broadcast their point of view on social media platforms; such actions have the effect of expanding the customer base and offering publicity to the company. These effects should create more incentive to the business enterprise to create and nurture their existing customers. In addition, customer retention remains an important metric, because a 5% boost in customer retention numbers can effectively translate into a substantial increase in a company’s profitability.
Customer satisfaction plays a key role in repeat purchases. Happy existing customers are more likely to re-visit the business premises of an enterprise and invest their dollars in the business. In doing so, the customer is essentially demonstrating faith and satisfaction in the products and services of the business. These attributes are priceless and a business should do everything in its power to retain such customers. These individuals (or groups) can be rewarded with suitable discounts and special treatment – such as an advance preview of new products and preferential treatment in the use of new services. These actions enhance the buying experience of the customer and reinforce his or her trust in the enterprise. We could say that the expression of faith becomes two-way; both the enterprise and the customers gain immense satisfaction through such transactions. It can also be said that such business relationships cannot be strictly evaluated through a dollars and cents approach. The business should work to assess and evaluate the happy customer’s mind set; this information can be used to upgrade business standards and processes. In doing so, the business enterprise is essentially re-inventing itself and inculcating a deep customer-oriented approach to conducting business.
Millions of dollars are invested by businesses each year in publicity and advertising budgets. The intelligent business enterprise can choose to feature happy existing customers in business advertisements in an effort to broadcast stellar business practices. The customer can be requested for permission to feature their visage in the print and online publicity campaigns. In case of a video advertisement, the company can issue certain talking points to the customer and this message can be broadcast through mass media. The body language and facial expressions of the customer can be said to be key to the whole communication exercise. The script can be tuned to emphasise the point of stellar customer service, or the customer’s happiness with a product, or overall satisfaction in transactions with a certain business enterprise. We could say that this is an instance of a business utilising the services of an existing customer to, inter alia, highlight its achievements, send a message to the competition, and attract new customers.
Customer satisfaction metrics can be highlighted to attract fresh fund infusions in corporate enterprises. The experiences of happy existing customers can be spotlighted to potential investors and this can, more often than not, create a positive impression of the enterprise. This can help to assure investors, venture capitalists, market regulators, and other stakeholders that the said enterprise is gaining momentum in the market and fresh funds can help it to gain its business goals. We must note that potential investors often prize these attributes because they realise that a company with happy existing customers is more likely to find success in present operations and future ventures. These numbers and facts can also be highlighted in road shows that are important before a private enterprise lists on stock exchanges. Market regulators can be assured that the company is delivering on its promises, as borne out by the statements of its many satisfied customers. We must bear in mind the fact that it costs every business a lot of resources to win over new customers than to services and retain its existing clients. Therefore, existing customers should be treated as business partners that bring their valuable dollars to the table.
In the preceding paragraphs, we have examined the many positive outcomes that stem from a company’s happy existing customers. The modern business enterprise has a duty to cultivate, nurture, and retain these customers and clients because they contribute significantly to the growth and diversification of business. The intelligent application of various customer-centric methods should help the enterprise to attain its goal of total customer satisfaction. Joyful customers are more likely to introduce positive energies into a business through the worst of business downturns. We could say that this is the customer’s way of showing appreciation for first-rate business products and services. These customers are also more likely to understand business compulsions when an enterprise reduces discounts and freebies in a bid to deal with the various stages of business cycles. In other words, these customers will stand by and support a business while other customers may choose to take their customer dollars elsewhere.
