Let’s face it, pretty well everything about how your company is perceived by a customer reflects on the success of your business. If you have good customer service, people generally assume you have a good product or service. On the other hand, bad customer service can mean people assume you have a bad product or service.

Key differentiator

In today’s competitive marketplace, businesses compete daily for clients, so customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator. SMBs that succeed in this often cutthroat environment are the ones that make customer satisfaction the main component of their marketing strategy.

Wowed customers = good ROI

It’s not enough to just keep your customers happy, you have to focus your whole team on exceeding customer expectations and “wowing” them at every available opportunity. In turn your “wowed” customers will become your brand ambassadors. They will be your best referral service, bringing you more business and boosting your bottom line.

Good business sense

It’s been proven that it’s cheaper to keep customers than lose them to the competition, and it costs less to up-sell existing customers than to gain new ones.

Many SMBs fall into the trap of ignoring their customers once they’ve got them, focusing their efforts solely on gaining new customers.

Acquiring new customers vs. retaining the ones you have

However, it costs a lot more money for a company to acquire a customer than to retain the ones you already have. Average SMB’s marketing teams can spend thousands of dollars in advertising costs and sales expenses gaining the attention of prospects, nurturing them into leads and closing them into sales.

It has been estimated that it costs six to seven times more to acquire new customers than it does to retain existing customers.

Value your customers and they will value you

The effort and minimal costs that go into maintaining quality customer service can pay your company big dividends over time. As marketing manager, this means leading your team in valuing your customers and showing them how much their loyalty means to your company.

Your customer service marketing strategy could include:

understanding why clients do business with you
understanding your customers’ needs and wants
ensuring effective after-sales follow up
providing a unique selling proposition
promoting business innovation

Metrics

Customer satisfaction also provides marketers and business owners with a metric they can use to manage and improve their businesses and reduce customer attrition.

By measuring and tracking customer satisfaction you can easily see where you are doing well and also which areas could use improvement. You can then put new processes in place to increase the overall quality of your customer service.

Key reasons customer satisfaction is important:

differentiates your company from competitors
is a leading indicator of repeat business of your customers
reduces customer defection
increases overall customer lifetime value
generates positive word-of-mouth and reputation
increases customer loyalty

Customer retention

Promote customer retention across all positions at all levels throughout your organization. Embrace it as a core strategy and as part of your company philosophy, and make it an integral part of every employee’s job description.

Simple ideas to incorporate into your customer retention strategy include:

create informative and entertaining blogs to educate customers
utilize email marketing for special promotions and discounts
implement customer satisfaction surveys to listen to your customers
engage and delight customers by offering personalized experiences

Bottom line

Since satisfaction plays a significant role in how much revenue a customer generates for your business, it makes good business sense to devote a portion of your marketing budget to customer retention. Exceeding customer expectations helps you keep your clients, turn them into brand ambassadors who will provide referrals, and nurture them into helping you grow your business and increase profits.