Customer Oriented
Is Your Business Customer Oriented?
To find out if your business customer oriented or not, you need to be honest about what goes on within the structure of it. Customers are what will decide if you get to keep on making money from it or not. Even if you have a great product or service available, you can turn people away if you aren’t treating them well. They may not make the purchase from you initially or return for additional items later on.
What methods do you have in place for customers to contact you? If you are an online business you should have a phone number, email, and a ticketing center where they can send in help requests. For a traditional business you should have a physical location as well as a phone number. Offering an email is nice too because so many people use forms of electronic correspondence.
Make it a goal to show you are customer oriented by returning all requests within 24 hours. That shows you are professional and taking their needs into consideration. Take the time to thank your customers as well. This can be a postcard in the mail or an email generated through an autoresponder. It doesn’t need to be fancy but it should convey to them that you appreciate them buying what you have to offer.
Are you asking for consumer feedback? They will love to share with you want is working and what isn’t. Don’t assume that they will always contact you to share such experiences on their own. When they know you do look at their feedback though they are going to be inclined to be honest and to tell you what they feel you are doing right and where you can make improvements.
Credibility goes a long way when you have a successful business. You are considered to be customer oriented if you are being honest and telling the truth with what you offer. When you are only in it to make money then it changes the way that the consumers are going to see you. Show them that you are passionate about helping them and by doing so you will also encourage them to make a purchase.
The direction of your business should be one you have envisioned. Your goals though need to take the needs of your customers into consideration. You have to walk, talk, and think like your target market if they are going to continue to grow with you. Should you be moving in one direction and them in the other it doesn’t show that you are customer oriented at all. Be careful of slipping into such role though as it can spell out the end for your business.
What types of return and refund policies do you have in place? Do you offer a generous warranty period for what you sell? If your business is truly customer oriented you will be covering all of these bases. Consumers love to know that they can return items they aren’t happy with. When you are willing to stand behind what you sell it shows them that it is a quality product. Your rate of returns will be low but your sells volume very high.
Is your business customer oriented? If you take a close look at it you may find areas where you do need to make changes. One of the biggest pitfalls is that employees aren’t properly trained. They don’t have the right information to share with customers. Take the time to ensure they have the information they need. They should also have a person they can turn to for anything they aren’t able to effectively handle on their own.