6 Tips to Improve Customer Experience

With the rise of smartphones, customers have access to virtually limitless information. It’s never been easier to discover new products, read reviews, compare prices, discover nearby businesses, and make purchases with a few taps.

Although this has made life easier for customers, it’s also made it more difficult for businesses to remain competitive. So how can you differentiate your business from others and build brand preference?

Answer: Invest in customer experience.

Improving your customer experience will benefit your business by:

• Boosting customer loyalty
• Generating positive word-of-mouth (both online and in-person)
• Increasing your customers’ average purchase sizes

Here are our tips to create a better customer experience:

1. Understand your customers.

If you’ve heard of the 80/20 rule, you already know that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. These are your core customers, and you’ll want to make sure you’re creating a brand experience that resonates with them.

Try developing target audience personas and leveraging your customer data to learn more about what’s important to your core customers. How do they shop? What products do they like? What promotions do they respond to best? Understanding more about your customers will help you to optimize your operations and increase your sales.

2. Gather customer feedback.

Although collecting customer feedback might seem like a daunting task, it’s important to help you improve your business.

There are a few ways you can gather customer feedback:

• Encourage customers to leave you a public review on Google
• Offer comment cards or digital comment forms on your website
• Ask for feedback in communications you send your loyalty members or along with digital receipts

Smart payment terminals, like Poynt and Poynt 5, also have the option to engage with your customers in real-time by responding to their feedback in the same text or email thread.

3. Make customer service your priority.

Ever had a really terrible customer service experience with a business? Chances are, you weren’t eager to return. In fact, a third of customers stop frequenting a business after just one poor experience.

However, if you’re able to handle a complaint promptly and professionally, you’ll have a better chance of keeping your customer in the long-term. Customers are willing to forgive a defective product, but they’re less likely to come back if they’ve experienced poor customer service.

Make sure you’re responsive to comments and complaints on your social media platforms, Google Business Reviews, and emails.

Learn more about how to turn a negative customer experience into a positive one.

4. Ensure your staff are knowledgeable about your products.

Training your employees on your products and price points is important so that they can offer personalized recommendations and answer any customer questions. As an added benefit, a knowledgeable team can also help boost your profit by skillfully upselling and cross-selling your products."

5. Launch a loyalty program.

One easy way to improve your customer experience with your brand is to launch a loyalty program, which rewards and incentivizes them to visit your business again and again.

According to a report from Visa, customers are 78% more likely to choose a business with a loyalty program. Loyalty programs have also been shown to increase average purchase amounts, customer retention, and overall revenue.

Once your business has accumulated customer data from your loyalty members, you’ll be able to send personalized offers and promotions, see how much more your loyalty members spend, which products are their favourites, and how frequently they interact with your business.

6. Invest in a seamless checkout experience.

Finally, consider upgrading your business’ payment technology so you can give your customers a painless checkout experience. Try a countertop-friendly smart payment terminal or a portable 3G terminal, which will make it easy to accept payments in-aisle, on-the-go, or at the table.

Interested in improving customer retention and experience with a loyalty program? Find out how your small business can benefit from a customer loyalty program.