They say that the customer is always right. That idiom is no out-of-date cliché. It’s the truth. It’s a truth, however, that does need some clarification. Yes, you may be the expert in your field. However, your customer is an expert at knowing what it is that will satisfy his or her needs. It’s important to not get too caught up in highlighting the greatness of your products and services without stressing the ways in which those products and services can benefit your customers.
It all comes down to how you can make the lives of your customers easier. And regardless of what you have to offer customers, it’s wise to always listen to them first. Your job is to be a problem solver. When you actively listen to the needs and concerns of your customers, you’ll know how to better position your products and services in ways that will meet those needs and resolve those concerns.
You need to discover customer wants and needs.
“You can’t second guess what a customer wants,” says U.K.-based Human Resource Management, “The only way to find out is by speaking to them. If you want customers to buy your product – and keep buying them – then you need to keep finding out what they want and need. If you keep this in mind, your business can only grow – in both knowledge and service.”
Another reason why it’s important to listen to your customers is because they have strong influences over other members of the buying public. These days, customer reviews carry a lot of weight. So if you’re not paying attention to what your customers are saying, you better believe that other consumers will be doing the listening for you!
It’s quite the popular practice for the average consumer to go online and read customer reviews about various companies they’re considering doing business with. If your company’s reviews are predominantly negative, you can expect a steady decline in customers. Remember that customers make strong influences. This was proven by a 2015 study conducted by Moz that revealed that the majority of consumers have their buying habits impacted by online reviews.
Online reviews impact 67.7% of purchasing decisions.
“We asked participants, ‘When making a major purchase such as an appliance, a smart phone, or even a car, how important are online reviews in your decision-making?’” Dan Hinckley explains on the Moz website, “The results revealed that online reviews impact 67.7% of respondents’ purchasing decisions. More than half of the respondents (54.7%) admitted that online reviews are fairly, very, or absolutely an important part of their decision-making process.”
At MeloTel, we do our best to make listening to customers an avid practice of ours. Our ability to listen is one of the main reasons our blogs can now be heard with the help of an audio transcription player. As we pointed out in our last blog, the idea came to us following the feedback we received from one of our newest clients. This awesome individual has a vision impairment and intimated to us that being able to listen to blogs would be very beneficial.
What are you doing to meet the needs of your customers?
If we can help you, please don’t hesitate to let us know how. We’ll be sure to listen! Give us a call at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat feature on our website!
