Happy Customers | How to Build Sustainable Profit & Long-Term Loyalty
Businesses aren’t self-sustaining entities; they rely on customer bases to prop them forward and drive profit.
And without happy customers, building a customer base large enough to support your business is a lost cause.
But what’s the secret to increasing your happy customers?
How do you build a brand that ensures every interaction ends positively?
In this guide, we’ll teach you just that.
Why Customer Satisfaction is Paramount
In the world of business, social proof is better than gold.
The more customers that vouch for your brand, the easier it’ll be to build the trust to attract new ones.
And the happier each of those customers are, the higher the chance they’ll come back and purchase again.
This leads us to one of the main points of this post:
The Secret to Customer Retention is Happy Customers
Long-term brand followers are so important that about 80% of a company’s revenue will come from just 20% of its customers.
Which is to say, without returning customers, your business is going to miss out on that potential 80%.
In addition, any business can only last so long on first-time customers before the pool of prospects starts to dwindle; this is especially true for brands in smaller niches.
So if that’s the case, let’s talk about how you can build a customer base that stays satisfied and coming back.
The 5 Secrets to Gain Happy Customers
1: Identify Your Niche
One of the best things you can do to increase customer satisfaction is to identify your brand niche.
Trying to offer everything and run a generalized business puts you up against the giants like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.
If you offer a little bit of everything, what reason do consumers have to not get it from services like those?
While it may be hard to compete in that space, you can offer a more specialized, targeted experience and focus on the group of customers within that niche.
Once you have your niche identified, you can hone in on your strengths and leverage them to increase customer satisfaction across the board.
Run a high-end guitar store?
Your customer niche probably is more concerned with top-notch customer service and product quality before they’re concerned with offers like free shipping. (though the latter might not hurt, either)
Run a fast food joint where the majority of your customers use the drive-through?
It wouldn’t be relevant to your niche to build a dining area worthy of a 5-star restaurant, instead, faster service at the window would probably be a bigger concern.
One last great example is Dollar Shave Club.
Instead of competing with the giants, they’ve crafted a brand around a highly targeted niche: Shaving.
Since they’ve narrowed down their niche, they can offer a customer experience that blows Amazon out of the water.
And just like with those examples, building into your brand’s niche means you can hyper-specialize into your strengths, avoid competing with giants, and mitigate your shortcomings.
2: Introduce Loyalty Programs to Reward Long-Term Customers
Brands in practically every niche have been introducing forms of loyalty programs as far back as it goes, and it’s no wonder why:
They work well.
Loyalty programs are some of the most effective ways to keep happy customers that continue to return.
It shows your brand cares about its customers and gives them the small nudge they might need to return.
After all, who doesn’t like extra rewards for shopping at their favorite store?
3: Practice Top-Notch Customer Service for Happier Customers
Customer service can make or break a customer experience.
A customer interaction that ends positively?
You’ve got yourself a five-star rating and a lifelong customer.
And a customer that receives poor service is one who will not only never return, but actively steer colleagues, family, and friends away from your brand.
One bad review on your business can limit its growth significantly.
Just one of many reasons that customer service should sit near the top of your priority list.
Train reps on carrying a customer-first mindset to ensure customer satisfaction.
Build out multiple communication channels, and ensure you get back to every customer as quickly as possible.
And as a bonus, we’ll share some customer service phrases later in this article that will take your support to the next level.
(Bonus Tip) Always Ask for Feedback
Asking for feedback is one of the best ways you can get direct data straight from your customers.
After every customer interaction, good or bad, ask for feedback on what went well and what could’ve gone better.
While every customer won’t respond, the ones that do will provide invaluable data that you can use to optimize your approach going forward.
4: Build Personalized Experiences (Where Relevant)
A hand-crafted experience is always more satisfying than a “cookie-cutter” one.
And customers love to know that their service has been hand-crafted to their tastes.
If relevant, personalize every customer experience to fit- Take a look at some examples:
Winc
Winc takes users on a “wine test” as soon as they land on the website. They ask for likes, dislikes, and preferences before selecting a collection of wine to fit those tastes.
Then they send a shipment of four options every month to their customers to trial.
Care/of
Care/of is another company that offers a test to offer personalized products to each customer.
The test covers your past tendencies, diet restrictions, health goals, and more to develop a mix of the best vitamins for you.
Tests like these are becoming increasingly common, and if applicable- Make for a great way to improve your customer experience.
Other Ways to Personalize the Customer Experience
If tests like the previous ones don’t fit, you can always offer personalized recommendations.
Give customers offers on products they buy often, or discounts on upsells that may interest them.
Let customers know you’re thinking of them wherever possible.
5: Provide Value at Every Step
Providing value to customers is one of the key tenets of every successful business out there.
Remember, to receive value from your customers, you’ll have to offer some value of your own upfront first.
In turn, that value helps to build that initial trust you’ll need to make a sale.
Whether that’s through content marketing, newsletters, or free trials is up to you. Find a way that aligns with your brand.
Customer Service Tips and Phrases
Want to transform negative customer experiences into excellent ones within seconds?
It might not seem possible, but it is- And the secret to it is within the language you use.
The right phrase can take an unhappy customer from fuming to raving about your brand.
As promised, here are some of the top customer service phrases you can use to level up your support experience.
1: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
Responding to negative comments is just as important (if not more) than responding to positive comments.
And when you’re directly dealing with customers, this phrase lets them know that you’re happy to hear about the problems so you can work to fix it for them and improve their experience.
2: “Great question! Let me get you the answer shortly!”
There will be times when your customer support reps don’t immediately have an answer to an issue, and that’s okay.
In those situations, showing the customers confidence and quick action to get an answer is a great way to let them know you’re professional and they’ll get the help they want in due time.
3: “I’ll be happy to update you by [time]”
No one likes waiting for a solution.
And even worse than that is waiting for an indefinite amount of time.
Even if you can’t give them an exact time for a solution to their issue, letting customers know when to expect updates saves them from having to stay on their toes for a response.
Want a more comprehensive list? Check out our ultimate guide on customer support phrases.
The Wrap Up
And there you have it, the full rundown on happy customers and delivering great customer service.
The way you build your customer experiences is the defining factor between repeat business and the customers who never come back.
And if you found this guide helpful, check out our blog for more content on how to keep customers happy
