10 Proven Ways on How to Improve Customer Satisfaction

It is no secret that customer satisfaction is the foundation of a successful business and brand. It is the key which ultimately goes on to increase overall customer experience. Whether you're in a B2B or B2C industry, a 100% satisfied customer base equals a happy customer and a great customer experience. After all, happy customers are usually the ones who come back for more. But how can you get them to come back?

There is more to customer satisfaction than simply catering to their whims and desires.

What else can be done to ensure they are satisfied with your business?

What methods should you be using? In this article, we'll share 10 ways to improve customer satisfaction in your business.

By following these tips, you can be sure to see an improvement in your customer satisfaction levels. This, in turn, can lead to more business and positive word-of-mouth referrals for your company.

Let's begin!

What exactly is customer satisfaction & how do you measure it?

To put it simply, customer satisfaction is how happy or satisfied a customer is with a company’s product or service. Customer satisfaction is a measure of how well a company meets the needs and expectations of its customers.

It is often used as a way to gauge customer loyalty and how likely customers are to continue doing business with a company.

To gauge customer satisfaction with your products or services, various metrics are used to assess different types of interactions and experiences. Generally, there are 3 popular customer satisfaction surveys that you can use to measure customer satisfaction.

1. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS is one of the most used and common metrics that is used to measure customer satisfaction. This is often used after the customer completes any type of transaction. NPS captures the overall sentiment of how the customer feels and thinks about your business.

For example On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend us to your friends or colleague?

This question is used in nearly all NPS surveys to gauge long-term customer satisfaction. NPS surveys are often paired with open-ended questions at the end to get qualitative data across the customer journey that will help you uncover magical insights.

How is it calculated?

Segregated your customers into promoters (9-10), passives(7-8), and detractors (0-6). The final score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

2. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys are one of the most popular ways to measure customer satisfaction. They're quick, easy to set up, and provide valuable insights and customer feedback.

A CSAT survey is a short questionnaire that asks customers to rate their level of satisfaction with a recent experience or purchase. The questions are typically closed-ended (e.g., "How satisfied are you with the product?"), and they use a scale (e.g., "Very Satisfied," "Satisfied," "Neutral," "Unsatisfied," or "Very Unsatisfied").

How is it calculated?

The CSAT score is determined by taking the number of customers who are satisfied and dividing it by the total number of responses. This figure is then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage.

For example, if you have 90 responses total and 40 are positive, your CSAT would be 44%.

3. Customer Effort Score (CES)

CES generally accounts for customer experience with the support services like customer support. CES is an important metric because it gives those teams insight into how much work customers are putting in towards their needs - and what you can do about it (if anything).

For example: How easy was it get your query solved?

How is it calculated?

Like CSAT, CES is also calculated by taking the number of customers who are satisfied and dividing it by the total number of responses. This figure is then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage.

Now that we know what is customer satisfaction & how to measure it, let's dive into the best ways on you can increase customer satisfaction.

10 Ways to improve customer satisfaction:

1. Personalize, personalize & personalize!

You heard it right! Personalization is the key to a loyal customer base.

By personalizing your products and services, you create a unique experience that cannot be replicated by your competitors. This allows you to build a relationship with your customers that is based on trust and loyalty. In turn, your customers are more likely to continue doing business with you and recommend you to others.

According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect personalization and 76% of consumers get upset when personalization is absent.

Some examples of personalization that you can use to boost customer satisfaction:

• Use Ai tools to suggest personalized products and deals to customers based on their purchase history.
• Always send a personalized message when a customer signs up (new customer), make an inquiry or a purchase.
• Never forget to follow-up with your customers when they interact with any of your support services or address any kind of grievances.

2. Always Provide Multichannel Support

Providing multichannel support is a key part of a great customer experience. This provides your customers with the flexibility to contact you in the way that is most convenient for them.

An average consumer uses more than 3 channels to communicate with a business which leads to switching constantly across multiple devices. This is why you need to ensure a seamless transition between multiple channels.

It means offering support through multiple channels such as phone, email, chat, and social media. By doing so, you will be able to reach more customers and provide them with the help they need. Additionally, multichannel support can help you resolve issues faster and improve customer satisfaction.

For example, a good multichannel support covers:

• E-mail Support
• Live chat Support
• Phone Support
• Social Support

The idea here is to make sure that customer has a seamless experience no matter what channel they use to interact with you.

3. Be Efficient With Your Response Time

Okay, you’ve done it all: you’ve reached your customers and made yourself available across channels. When the response sheets begin rolling in, either with positive or negative reviews of your product — it is expected that you get back to them in adequate and appropriate time. Otherwise all your efforts to listen to your customers are in vain, because they don’t know they’ve been heard.

This can be done in a few ways. A default email response addressing your customer by their name (personalization, hey!) and letting them know that their responses have been recorded and are being acted upon is a good place to start.

This is where you especially pay attention to the negative reviews, or the potential churn customers. Address their complaint, and if it is in your power to do so, compensate the lack they felt in your product with something better. This can be a discount code for their next purchase or whatever you may deem appropriate in lieu of your product (or service).

Doing all of the above (and more) in the fertile time window when your company and your product is still fresh in their minds will do you more good and no harm.

4. Engage Actively on Social Media

Social media platforms are a great way to stay engaged with your target demographic and it also helps you better understand customer sentiment. By posting relevant and engaging content, you can keep your followers interested in what you have to say.

Additionally, social media is a two-way street – so be sure to respond to comments and questions from your followers. Customers are more likely to express their true feelings on social media, as opposed to other channels like surveys or customer service calls. Doing so will show that you value their input and help to create a more engaged community around your brand. Customer satisfaction is vital across channels.

5. Easy Refund Process

As direct as it sounds, always have an easy refund process. This will ensure that customers are happy with their purchase, and will be more likely to shop with you again in the future. This will help in improving your customer retention rate, and boost customer satisfaction levels.

One of the best ways to ensure an easy refund process is to have an easy refund policy. Don't complicate things by adding technical and legal terms. Just a simple and easily understood money-back guarantee. This will help improve the entire customer journey

6. Customer Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty programs are designed to encourage customers to continue doing business with your company. These programs typically offer rewards for customers who make frequent purchases, such as discounts, free shipping, or other special offers. Many companies also offer loyalty programs as a way to build relationships with their customers and build a sense of community.

How to apply loyalty programs in your business (examples):

• Free delivery above certain amount
• Offer loyal customers points or cashback which they can redeem in their next purchase
• Priority support for consistent customers
• Offer a gift to the customer on their birthdays
• Early access to sales
• Give away high-value customers free products as a reward.

Here is an example of how Starbucks approaches their loyalty program:

7. Learn How to Deal with Negative Reviews

Negative reviews, especially if you are a fledgling company, can be humbling to the core. But when dealing with customer expectations and customer feedback, negative reviews can actually be something to treasure. Think of it as a long-term beta test of your product. If you don’t know what’s not good, how can you improve upon it? When building a product or a service, criticism is the only thing that will keep you on the alert to do better. And better yet if it is critique directly from your customers.

Customer complaints on open forums can however be very damaging to your product or company. In cases like these, make sure to reply in a concise and civilized way, and actually address their concerns.

For this, it is important that your customer support teams are well-equipped to deal with customer complains. A great customer support staff is the key to the satisfaction of your customers.

8. Act! Don’t Just Listen

Customer success is not built solely on excellent communication. It is built on trust and action. You can have very distinguished and superior customer service, but if you aren’t implementing what your customers are taking time out of their day to tell you — you are bound to lose them eventually. Acting on customer feedback is how you reinforce your accountability as a company and a brand.

Even the most loyal customers are looking at how well you are boding with time and improvements. Action in adequate time proves that not only are you hearing your customers out, but you also care about them enough to act upon the suggested changes. Customer feedback is useless if that is all it ends up being — feedback. Resolving customer complaints is the no. 1 way to gain their trust and keep them coming back.

9. Pay Attention to The Passives

When brands conduct NPS (Net Promoter Score) scoring for their pool of customers, the customers are divided into three categories. Promoters, Detractors, and Passives. Promoters are those customers that are very likely to recommend your product to their friends and family. They fall between the score of 9-10. Detractors are those customers that fall below the mark of an NPS score of 6 and are unlikely to recommend your product. They are a churn risk, and naturally, you may feel that they need the most attention to keep them coming back and happy.

But the Passives or the customers that are scoring above 6 but below 9 or 8 often go ignored. They are your customers happily on the fence. Neither here nor there. This makes them more so valuable. They can be swayed to the side of the promoters much more easily than the detractors.

Pay attention, and target wisely.

10. Build Community

How you handle customer issues, correct poor customer service, drive customer loyalty, and make sure the customer is satisfied will gain you much more than increased sales. The importance of community, especially for impact brands, cannot be ignored. Customer satisfaction is key to harboring community and nurturing camaraderie with your customers. The higher your customer satisfaction levels, the higher the chances of your brand becoming the next household name for the service you provide

In order to build community, make sure to record customer insights well and improve upon them at each stage of redevelopment. Always keep the customer in mind. An excellent customer experience is more than just customer service. It begins when they purchase your product or service and, ends? Hopefully never.

Top-notch customers are happy customers. And unfortunately, they don’t come with the package and need to be earned.

Always thank the customer. Gratitude goes a long way.