How to improve customer satisfaction

They say ‘a happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world’. Getting customer satisfaction wrong is one of the fastest ways to lose business.

But they also say that an unhappy customer whom you have made happy again is likely to share this positive experience with lots of people. You can’t keep all your customers happy all of the time. But all might not be lost: never give up on your customers. There are ways to get dissatisfied customers back on your side.

Luckily for tradespeople, many of the things that make customers satisfied are what they already do. Often, high levels of customer satisfaction are down to good old-fashioned customer service.

Tradtional values like politeness, respect and getting the job done properly are just as valid today. Probably even more so in a less personal world. The personal touch is usually the driving power behind high customer satisfaction levels.

What is customer satisfaction?

Customer satisfaction is a business term for how a customer feels about your business. It’s not just about the product or service you have sold them.

It’s about people

Everything about your business can affect how satisfied a customer feels. In particular, their views on the people in your business count.

After all, the most important part of a trade business is its people. So how they interact with customers is an important element in customer satisfaction.

The customer is always right

To understand customer satisfaction, you have to realise that the customer is always right. Sometimes you have to bite your tongue if don’t think they’re right! That’s what good customer service – and customer satisfaction – is all about.

It’s not just about price

Customer satisfaction isn’t measured by price alone. Many customers will return to a tradesperson they trust to do outstanding work of a very high quality.

They probably know they can get the same job done more cheaply elsewhere. But they prefer to choose a tradesperson who delivers customer satisfaction that goes beyond how much a job costs.

Importance of customer satisfaction

As well as making small business more profitable, having high levels of customer satisfaction can reward tradespeople in plenty of other ways.

• You can improve business revenue and increase profits
• You can win more business from existing customers and also when they recommend you to people they know
• Happy customers make you feel more motivated and satisfied with your efforts
• Satisfied customers are more likely to value, trust and respect you
• By concentrating on achieving outstanding customer satisfaction you are less likely to make errors or mistakes in your work. These could be time-consuming and costly to fix
• It’s far easier to carry out repeat business with existing customers than having to take time, effort and cost to find new ones
• Your business brand is boosted along with your reputation

How to measure customer satisfaction

There are lots of ways you can measure customer satisfaction. For trade business, these include simple actions that can provide a lot of very useful information.

You can use this information to change how you work, so you keep improving customer satisfaction.

Talk with your customers

A brief, informal chat can give you loads of valuable feedback about your work. You can do this while you’re carrying out a job or afterwards.

That means you can find out what they do and don’t like about how you work. It also means you can learn ways to work more efficiently.

Customers might feel more comfortable talking with you rather than being asked to fill in a feedback form after a job has been finished. Just remember not to forget what they said!

Use questionnaires, surveys and feedback forms

These are more formal methods of measuring customer satisfaction. Whenever you buy something you’re likely to be asked whether you’d like to complete a brief survey on your experience.

Customer satisfaction surveys usually ask the participant to rank different elements of the service they have received. These are usually from 1 (for poor) to 10 (for highly satisfied).

The information you generate from surveys enables to you to identify what aspects of your business rate highly with customers. And which areas need improving.

Make online and digital measurements

Often, the easiest way to ask customers for feedback on how satisfied they are is online. You can email questionnaire questions. You can send text messages or ask customers to fill in a form on your website.

Look closely at your customer base

When looking at satisfaction levels, the question of customer ‘churn’ helps you spot areas for improvement. Customer churn means how many customers you are losing and gaining.

If you have a high customer churn rate then you probably have low customer satisfaction levels. Customers are stopping choosing you. When you lose a customer, it can be difficult to know why that has happened.

Businesses sometimes approach customers who have left them to find out why. Of course, getting back in touch with a dissatisfied customer can be a bit tricky. That’s why it’s best to ensure they are always delighted with what you do.

How to improve customer satisfaction

These ideas are useful ways for tradespeople to boost customer satisfaction:

Take the time to understand your customers

It will help you deliver a better service. And you should also be able to anticipate their needs. That could help you win future work with them.

Make a good first impression

In business, like many areas of life, first impressions count for a lot. Your initial contact with customers could be the first step in a long relationship with them. Take the time to get it right, whether face-to-face, online or by phone.

Make follow-up calls or visits

In business, ‘aftersales’ is just as important as the sale itself. When a job is finished, let the customer know you’ll contact them in the future to check everything is okay.

This could be in a month, six months or a year. It depends on the type and scale of work. Customers appreciate tradespeople who check that their work was completed to a satisfactory standard.

Get customers to sing your praises

This is called customer advocacy. Businesses create customer studies so others can find out how good they are.

The approach is ‘don’t take my word for it, see what my customers say about me’. It’s a highly effective marketing technique. After all, people are more likely to believe that a customer thinks about you.

You can do this if you have loyal, highly satisfied customers who are happy to share their experience with others.

Get the price right for the job

We’ve already said that customer satisfaction isn’t just down to price. But the cost of a job is nevertheless going to be a key factor for customers. While customer loyalty keeps them coming back, there is usually a financial limit on the extent of that loyalty.

Over-pricing a job could mean customers can feel dissatisfied with you even if your work has been excellent.

Start a loyalty or reward programme

It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant or complicated. Offering money off future jobs to reward customer loyalty can go a long way. Customers like to feel special – and save money at the same time.

You could start a ‘recommend a friend scheme’. Here, you could offer your customer – and the person they recommend – a discount. You should be able to recoup the cost of doing work at a lower price by winning more work from more customers.

This type of ‘word of mouth’ marketing is another great way to use customer satisfaction to find new business and great a new set of happy customers.

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes

Think how you would like to be treated. Try and understand how a customer might view you and the work you’re doing. Would you be happy with how you deliver your trade?

Businesses often run ‘mystery shopper’ exercises where someone experiences first-hand how they are treated. They then report back to ‘head office’ so the business can see where the customer experience is poor. They can then take the necessary steps to improve it.

Act quickly if customers complain

Unhappy customers are inevitable in business. The key is to win back their support. You should respond quickly and sort out the problem as soon as you can.

Respond to customer feedback

If you ask for feedback then you shouldn’t ignore it. Reply immediately thanking the customer for taking the time to share their thoughts with you.

Learn from the feedback about the things you do well and the areas you need to improve

Support your customer at all times

Good customer satisfaction doesn’t stop when the job finishes. Businesses with high customer satisfaction levels ‘go the extra mile’ in their support.

For trade business, that usually means being easy to reach and ready to help when a customer needs it. It may just be a query that you can sort out on the phone.

Every time you interact with a customer, even in a very small way, can make a difference. It’s an opportunity for you to deliver a great experience for them.

Always admit if you’re wrong

Things don’t always go according to plan in business. Another essential element in achieving high customer satisfaction levels is to immediately put your hand up if something isn’t right.

So long as you think it is reasonable to resolve the problem, don’t quibble or argue about it. That way, customers will trust you more and are more likely to choose you again.

Set out clear expectations

Customer satisfaction is measured by how a job went. If you set out very clear expectations before a job starts then customers will have something to measure their satisfaction against.

Communicate clearly and regularly

There’s nothing worse for a customer than not knowing what’s going on. If you have to delay or cancel work let them know straightaway.

The customer may be disappointed but at least they’ll know what is happening. That can help you retain a higher satisfaction level with them.

Keep customers updated regularly about work, especially if anything unexpected crops up.

Choose carefully how you communicate with customers depending on what they prefer. Nowadays, most people are happy to receive text messages or emails. But don’t assume everyone is. Some prefer a phone call or something in writing.

Keep your quality high

As well as taking pride in the quality of your work, your customers will appreciate it. You can continuously improve what you do with regular learning and training.

Be clear with your billing

Make sure your quotes and invoices are clear and fully explain all costs. A major grievance for customers can be if they feel they have been overcharged. This could be down to a lack of detail given by the tradesperson.

Be flexible in your customer relationships

Customers like trade businesses that are happy to bend over backwards for them. Although you want to make sure they don’t take advantage of this.

Many businesses have dissatisfied customers because they are too rigid in their approach. They might be unwilling to adapt to new ways of working.

They can become too focused on processes and paperwork. As a result, they may miss out on opportunities to deliver great customer service.

Make sure everyone in your business understands customer satisfaction

If you have staff make sure they know what they can do to help customers. It’s called ‘employee empowerment’.

Rather than not doing anything until they’ve ‘checked with head office’, your staff should feel confident to use their initiative to get a job done. It’s about ‘going the extra mile’ for customers.

Key takeaways

• The importance of customer satisfaction cannot be underestimated as it helps a trade business to be more profitable
• The benefits of customer satisfaction are felt not only by customers but also by the trade business and its employees
• How to measure customer satisfaction enables a trade business to improve the way it works so satisfaction levels go up
• How to improve customer satisfaction is about understanding your customers and exceeding their expectations about the work you do for them