It does not matter what business you are in, the truth is that customer satisfaction has a heavy bearing on your company’s profitability. In this article I will discuss several initiatives which could be used to increase customer satisfaction.

 

Transparency

 

Customers wish to know the why’s and how’s of what is going on, especially when it comes to their money. It is simply not enough to tell them that you have the best loan management software. They also want you to show them the methods and algorithms used by the software to produce results. Likewise they want to see statistics backing up your reason for choosing that software. Most of all they want your professional opinion on whether or not you give kudos to the software. When hearing your opinion customers would rather have you give them a mixed review and know that it’s honest then receive a glorious 5 star review if you can’t back up your opinion with facts. When a customer asks you your opinion what they’re really asking is whether or not they can trust you, because most of the time they have already formulated their own opinion.

 

Eye to Eye

 

This is a technique meant to initiate face-to-face communication. Sometimes we tend to be in too much of a hurry to literally raise or lower ourselves to our customers’ level. A common bargaining technique is to raise yourself above your counterparts in order to gain emotional leverage during the negotiation through the use of your physical presence. While this is a good technique during a negotiation, when we are communicating with our customers we do not want to fall into this habit. We need to remain relatable. Simply by sitting or standing to initiate conversation with our customers we can make them feel more comfortable and therefore increase their overall satisfaction with the experience.

 

Walk This Way

 

In this technique we choose to escort our customers from one destination to another. This allows us to maintain a rapport of caring and concern. It makes us relatable and makes them feel as though they’re being taken care of. All too often we see people ramble off directions and continue with their work. To the customer this says “I don’t really care whether or not you get lost,let me get back to work”.

 

Finish Strong

 

We can assume that all customer experiences are based on hills and valleys. If so, it’s easy to see why we really must finish strong. As the saying goes, everything has its ups and downs but if we finish on a down chances are that the customer will not be satisfied. A customer experience Hill occurs when their expectations are met. A Valley occurs when their expectations are not met. If the last experience a customer has is a Hill they will remember the experience in whole as a good experience, and will tend to be overall satisfied. Likewise if the last thing a customer remembers is a Valley they will be over all dissatisfied.

 

We live in a digital world where an individual customer’s satisfaction does not only affect whether or not that customer will return. It also affects the customer’s review which in turn can affect whether or not future customers choose your company. For this reason customer service should be a primary goal in any companies initiatives.

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Individual startups have brought about stiff competition like never before. Established companies are struggling to compete with them. For instance, Airbnb has disrupted the hotel industry. E-commerce has made this disruption possible. People prefer to shop from digital storefronts. The trend is changing slowly and settled companies that have been around for years may be taken down. Businesses are shifting their models from adverting to subscription. They have become sensitive to consumer’s demands. Companies that still use advertising will have to change their strategy of doing business.

 

1. Subscriptions are becoming popular

The media industry is shocked at the growth that is taking place in media businesses supported by subscription models. Newspaper companies such as The New York Times had been overtaken by startups that were supported by subscription models. However, these established media companies have caught up with the rest after taking up the subscription models.

 

A popular trend in e-commerce has seen consumers start by buying products in one category and eventually end up buying most of the things online. This trend has affected customers who begin by subscribing to a single media channel then finally sign up to other channels. You will end up getting everything you need from these platforms.

 

People are warming up to the subscription model. Media players have used visualization tools to come up with personalized application experiences.

 

2. Advertising has become frustrating

Interruptions caused by advertising has become frustrating. It makes it hard to concentrate on one thing and results in wastage of time. This fact has contributed to the growth of subscriptions. In the past, the interruptions were few and so were the digital media channels. You had no options to pick from, so you couldn’t avoid the advertisements. The growth of the digital media has given consumers the freedom to choose the channel they want to view. Keeping up with these channels at once is difficult, so any interruptions from advertisements become unbearable. Consumers end up subscribing to get rid of the ads as they affect their concentration span.

 

Not only will you make little money using advertising-supported business models, but you’ll also struggle to keep up with the constant changes that take place in this industry. The cost of free sites is increasing as fraud has caused publishers to pay for third-party verification systems. You will also need to spend on a sales team to keep your clients happy. At some point, it will become too much, and you’ll need to find a better way of setting up your business.

 

3. Subscription improves the product

Your products improve when you focus your attention towards keeping you paying customers excited. The people who make mobile games have discovered this secret. They shifted from showing the advertisement banners at the bottom of the mobile’s screen to requesting users to pay to get better experiences.

 

Netflix is an example of a company that has invested heavily in its programming software. This software makes personal recommendations of television shows and movies that their users are yet to see. These firms depend on information from their relationship with clients to know their preference. Companies will come up with quality content with the intention to attract and maintain their subscribers.

 

4. Predictable, recurring income entices investors

Investors are frustrated from putting in money on advertising models that have minimal returns. This frustration has caused companies to shift to subscription models which have predictable, recurring income. Companies will choose to get rid of the ad model and direct their consumers to the subscription page. Investors will seek to find out the revenue generated per user before deciding to invest in companies. This method will enable them to make data-driven decisions. Money that would have been used to create ads will be used to improve the products.

 

Conclusion

This trend won’t affect companies immediately. However, from the points above you can tell that there will come a time when firms won’t be able to reach their target audience using the traditional interruptive advertising. A smart business leader will prepare for a future where subscriptions are the way to riches.

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