How to Improve Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is different from one person to the next. Thus, the answer to “How do I improve customer satisfaction?” is a complex one to answer. At the root of the solution is the acceptance by customer service representatives and others in an organization that all internal and external customers are unique and have different needs, wants and expectations. They must, therefore, be addressed as individuals and not as a group based on outward appearance (e.g. race, gender, age, ethnic or religious background and other factors typically used to label people).
Obviously, training and education to raise awareness about factors related to human behavior, diversity, customer service skills, interpersonal communication, and the organization’s products and services are crucial in providing quality service. Successful organizations and managers realize this and strive to provide quality information to everyone in their system on a regular basis. Above that, it is the individual service provider’s responsibility to adopt an attitude focused on customer-centric behavior and actively take opportunities to discover customer needs, wants and expectations and then apply their knowledge and skills to satisfy them.
While there is no one solution to the issue of customer satisfaction, there are many roads to success if service providers take the effort to act in a professional manner and work with customers to partner on successful outcomes for both the customer and the organization.
To get a better understanding of factors related to different customer groups and potential strategies for identifying and addressing their needs, wants and expectations, get copies of Please Every Customer: Providing Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures, Customer Service Skills for Success and How to Be a Great Call Center Representative.