The Sunday Mail
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible,” -Tony Robbins
CUSTOMERS are always looking for products and services that will blow their minds away. These are products that offer real value and are able to meet or surpass the expectations of the customers.
Organisations should also know that despite their efforts to make all of their customers loyal to them, there are some customers who have a challenge when it comes to commitment and being loyal. These types of customers will always shop around for the newest trends or products on the market and can switch brands easily without batting an eyelid.
However, some customers are pushed away by organisations that fail to acknowledge the importance of customers to their operations. Hence, customers feel dissatisfied and are strongly motivated to move over and start new relationships with the organisation’s competitors. So, let us look at what pushes customers away.
- Products and services that fail to meet customer expectations
In most cases customers patronise an organisation’s product(s) or service because they have a good experience with the product or service, recommendations from others, attractive call to action by the organisation and excellent marketing strategies that will entice the customer to do a trial run among other factors. The perceptual mind game is also a contributing factor in the customer’s decision to do business with certain organisations.
Organisations that have a positive perception are likely to attract even new customers to do business with. However, in spite of all, if a product or service fail to meet or surpass the expectations, customers will flee from that organisation in droves. In most cases the service failure leaves customers disappointed and dissatisfied and, in this era, such customers do not waste time to post the reviews on social media. At the speed of lightning their negative reviews will send the organisation to an early grave unless it salvages the situation before it gets out of hand. They also cause reputational damage, block future or prospective customers while pushing out the current existing customers. Organisations must, therefore, offer the best products or services that is worthy paying for and is able to meet or surpass customers’ expectations.
- Lack of Good Customer Service
Organisations that forget to pay attention to their customer service performance and policies are likely to lose out on customers who feel neglected. Bad customer service is the number one driver of chasing away customers. Customers that endure the worst customer experience during their customer journey, are likely to look for alternative service providers for their next purchase. When customers start looking for alternatives it signifies a lost customer to the current organisation and the financial cost of replacing that customer is way too high. Moreover, these customers do not share with the organisation their customer nightmare but will just walk away from the organisation for good. They, instead, prefer to share their experience with many other potential customers before it actually reaches the organisation’s ears. Thus, excellent customer service is critical and must be handled with care at all touch points where there are direct or indirect interactions with customers. The way you show your customers care will definitely determine where they will go for their next purchase of the same product or service. Service staff must be trained regularly on customer service and performance appraisal should be monitored. If resources permit, reward those who thrive to make the organisation’s customers delighted with the service.
- Show customers the value
The price of the product must be commensurate with the value of the product or service. This means the price of a product or service is a good indicator of the value or quality attached. Real customers are not worried about the price but about the value they will get from the purchase.
For instance, the expectations of a customer wanting to buy goods in a Zimbabwean Chinese-owned shop are very low because the products are priced low so is the quality of the merchandise. However, if one is going to Zimoco to buy a brand-new Mercedes Benz, their expectations are high because their cars are priced high as a sign of the high value or quality attached to them. Organisations that fail to identify their unique value proposition or have representatives that are unable to articulate satisfactorily the value of their products vis-a-vis the price attached to them, drive away customers.
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing enthusiast with a strong passion for customer service. For comments, suggestions and training, she can be reached on [email protected] or on 0712 979 461.
