How Important is Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations?
Clients have expectations about every aspect of business: the product, the process used to serve customers, and the people doing the serving. Excel in all areas and customers will not only stick with you over time, but they will become your advocates and speak highly of you to other potential clients.
Fail to meet expectations, however, and customers will abandon you – and likely use their influence to encourage others to do so as well.
The Universal Path to Satisfied Customers
Experts say the key to satisfying customer expectations is to give the them value, a voice, and a pleasurable emotional experience with your brand. This suggests customers are attracted to quality, fair prices, brands they feel are listening and adapting to them, as well as brands that offer pleasurable shopping moments and memories.
Having customers feel that they’ve gotten what they expected and more is no small feat. That’s why many businesses are formally practicing Customer Experience Management (CEM) and teaching representatives in sales training how to surpass customer desires and encourage positive company perceptions. Developing company-specific techniques to “WOW” and fulfill customers should be a key part of any businesses’ sales and marketing process improvement.
Research: Happy Customers Cause Company Growth
Watermark Consulting has spent decades studying customers that provide the best and the worst customer experience. They have found a correlation between stock market performance and customer satisfaction. Companies who had satisfied customers for five or six years straight enjoyed increased stock value and a better return on investment while those who didn’t satisfy customers lost value.
Most recently in 2014, Watermark found that companies that met customers’ expectations over a five- or six-year period outperformed the general market and surpassed the performance of the S&P 500 Index by 26 points.
Automation Works
The University of Texas found using automated processes to meet customer expectations has been beneficial across all industries.
In the retail industry, improved communications software used to match products to customers and meet other needs, helped increase sales by $9.6 billion. The consulting industry had a $5 billion increase while the food product industry enjoyed a $3.4 billion dollar spike. This emphasizes the need to use sales training to force salespeople to become adept at new technologies to serve customers.
Case Studies Underscore the Need to Use Metrics
Case studies show unique and individualized ways some brands benefited from using metrics to meet client expectations. Experian, a credit services company, enjoyed a 15 percent increase in revenue since vowing to become “obsessed” with customers and using a specialized company – Satmetrix– to learn more about what customers want.
Kronos, using the same research company, retains 97 percent of its customers. Symantec gets 92% positive reviews from customers after heeding research data. Many businesses are partnering with customer research firms as part of their sales and marketing process improvement. They are also teaching salespeople in sales training about using the research to personalize customer experiences.
Once your company masters the art of fulfilling and going beyond what customers expect, your business will likely see more revenue, less customer turnover and a better brand image. Make it a reality by having your sales and marketing process improvement team analyze all channels to make sure customers are treated to the best experience, whether they visit your business in person, on a mobile phone app or through your online website. Even social networks should serve memorable company experiences.
The upshot of all this is that businesses who meet and exceed customer expectations earn more customer loyalty, more profit and a stronger performance in the stock market. Work on it!
