It is imperative that customers are able to express their opinions through all available channels. Therefore, businesses are keeping a close eye on customer feedback.
When listening to your customers, how do you do it? Reading testimonials and reviews is sufficient for you, or do you need to do more? Do you listen to your customers?
In our primer on customer listening, you can find answers to these questions.
What methods do you use to listen to your customers?
Customer feedback was often taken into consideration in pre-modern times. People were concerned about it. Nowadays, customers can provide feedback in many ways. These include:
- Social networking messages
- Surveys sent by email
- Customer interactions with your website
- Tracking keyword searches related to your brand
- Live chat with customers
Always pay attention to the information your clients share about your company.
Businesses benefit from listening in many ways
Although we have emphasized listening to customers, we have not described how businesses can benefit from it. Here are five reasons why listening to customers is advantageous.
- It provides customer data. Knowing your customers is crucial to selling effectively. Get the best information about your customers by listening to them.
- As a result, customers remain loyal for longer. Effective communication is vital for customer retention. A company that listens to its customers is more likely to keep them.
- By increasing upsells and cross-sells, customers' lifetime value is increased. If you listen to your customers, you'll learn about the possibility of upselling and cross-selling.
- By using testimonials, you can improve your reputation. The more credibility you gain with customers, the more you will gain from publishing customer feedback.
- It lets you identify your brand ambassadors. Listening actively will help you discover the source of positive word-of-mouth. As a result, you can develop an effective partnership strategy.
Listening tips: 5 ways to become a better listener
Our customers are important to us, which is why we listen to them. So what is the process? Check out these five methods.
1. Observing social media
The primary purpose of social media is to collect feedback from customers. Among the listening options on social media platforms are comments, reviews, and likes. Some of them offer live chat popups and phone calls.
Keeping up with social media involves interacting with followers and monitoring social media channels. It is best to ask direct questions.
2. Web forms for listening
Consider your website a listening platform. All types of listening can be handled by using the application's web form option. In addition, users can provide feedback via web forms.
It is possible to display an online form on the navigation bar and the "Contact Us" page of your static website. Subscribers can fill out the form and communicate with you.
3. Keep an eye on the point of sale
Listening often overlooks the importance of timing. Speaking to your customer before, during, and after the sale is not the same as mentioning your brand offhand. At the POS, you can gather sales data.
4. Listening carefully to clients
A good customer service experience begins by listening to the customer. The information you collect from customers, whether it is via live chat, email, or phone calls, is valuable for customer service. The customer service industry is less likely to receive positive feedback, but negative feedback is often more valuable.
5. Focus group meetings
You may be able to use focus groups depending on your budget. Presentation and discussion of your products and services with a group of consumers is the first step.
Because focus groups are in-person, people are more honest and open about your brand.
Listening to your customers is easy with this tool
Listening is asymmetrical in business-to-consumer relations. Having more customers than listeners will always strain your resources. The problem has been overcome by developing tools that automate the listening process.
LiveAgent help desk
It may be difficult to provide customer service if you don't have enough resources or staff. You can scale your customer service operations and provide excellent customer service with LiveAgent Help Desk.
You can also create a ticketing system in addition to contact forms, live chat, a knowledge base, and a forum. An initial subscription is free, and you can upgrade anytime.
Success depends on listening
According to business orthodoxy, clients were considered passive consumers, which affected B2C communication. Social media, on the other hand, gives customers a voice.
Listening to your customers is essential to business success. What your customers have to say can give you a lot of insight into what you need to do strategically.
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