3 Ways You Are Alienating Customers Without Even Realizing
Among the many priorities that business managers have across the world, reaching sales targets is a big one.
However, it isn’t as easy as it appears. Sometimes, it feels like you are doing everything you possibly can, but the numbers don’t go up. If you feel like you are in a similar situation, read on.
In a survey of 1,100 customers, 50 percent placed customer service as the main factor behind taking their business elsewhere. Similarly, price and value also impact sales numbers.
These factors, or a combination of factors, often drive away customers without your knowledge. If you don’t know the ‘why’, it can be difficult to answer the ‘how’ of increasing sales.
In this article, we will look at three ways your branch may be driving away potential customers and how to remedy the situation.
1. Poor Customer Service
Like it or not, America is a customer-centric culture. If your customers have felt like they aren’t being treated properly, it is enough cause for them to take their business elsewhere.
You can’t really blame them as well. We all know how annoying it can be to deal with long wait times, rude staff, or a general lack of empathy and helpfulness from employees.
If that sort of experience is a consistent trend, it can have serious ramifications for the business as a whole. Interestingly, some companies believe that customers will always find fault with customer service. As a result, visitor management system products have gained a lot of popularity in recent years.
With these systems, you can customize greetings, offer personalized messages, eliminate human delays, and more. The end result? Customers feel valued and welcomed and are more likely to visit or shop at your place.
According to Greetly, these systems are often used by financial service offices, staffing agencies, creative service firms, and more. Regardless of the tools being used, the main point still stands.
Good customer service is king.
As long as it gets the job done, it doesn’t matter if you use a visitor management system or highly trained employees.
2. Overaggressive Marketing
If you have studied anything about customer behavior, you will already know that ‘need’ is not the only factor that causes people to spend their money.
The very act of shopping itself can be cathartic for many. It helps people forget about their anxieties and indulge in little pleasures.
However, all this falls apart when overzealous marketers pressurize customers.
Marketing in some businesses can be so bad that customers dread being asked for their phone numbers during checkout. They fear the tsunami of incoming promotional messages and the offers that it brings.
If this is the case in your branch, you will need to address it ASAP.
However, unless you have considerable influence, you can’t just up and change sales targets and policies yourself. You might be able to tell your agents to tone it down a bit, but there’s only so much that this can do.
Instead, try talking to customers and note their feelings about your branch’s marketing. If you can collect data that proves aggressive marketing is pushing customers away, your superiors are likely to listen.
3. High Competition
Sometimes, it’s not that you are doing anything wrong. It’s just that someone else is doing it better.
These days, it feels like no matter how specific your niche, there will always be someone else that tries to get in on the action.
Are you managing a medieval, tavern-themed cafe? Sure enough, a similarly themed one may eventually open up nearby. On many occasions, you might not even be aware of these developments.
When this happens, it’s normal for customers to be enticed to explore other options.
While price wars and promotions are obvious ways to remedy this issue, a better option is to differentiate the brand image even more.
When you fail to effectively communicate and reinforce your brand’s distinctive qualities, customers may become indifferent and drift towards competitors offering similar services.
Similarly, you can build emotional connections with customers through genuine interactions, and personalized experiences. This can go a long way in winning customers on the fence between you and your competition.
Conclusion
Yes, it can be disheartening to discover factors that are driving away your customers. However, there is reason to be optimistic. When you discover and address these factors, you have the power to turn the tide around.
It is always worth taking a deep dive into understanding your customers and their values. Doing so will help you understand aspects of the business that you never expected.
