Let me start by asking you a question, what is the difference between customer satisfaction and customer delight?
For those who still go traditional, customer delight might seem just the present day craze or merely a buzzword (obviously, it’s much more than that). Customer delight is actually a step ahead of customer satisfaction. It is a well-established fact that customer satisfaction is the key to any successful business.
Satisfaction invites loyalty from the customers and customers are much more devoted towards those businesses that go a little extra mile to satisfy their customers.
If you still don’t get the answer to your question, read further.
What is customer delight exactly?
How many times have you revisited a restaurant only because you didn’t have to wait long for your order and the waiters were attentive and how many times have you stopped using a service they put you on hold. Take an example of a cable operator whose technicians make you wait. Nowadays consumer’s tendency is to punish a bad service more than rewarding a good one.
As such, just satisfying your customers by meeting their expectations won’t suffice. You have to exceed their expectations and this is what customer delight is all about. As Maya Angelou says, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
So, Satisfaction or delight?
It is important to understand that customer satisfaction does not always guarantee customer happiness as when you are satisfying your customers you are just meeting his minimum requirements. Customer delight means you are exceeding the expectations of your customer by surprising them with something extra, a little more than what they expected.
Though satisfaction and delight are just slightly different in meaning, but have a compelling impact both on your business and customers. Delight adds value to satisfaction. If you succeed in turning your services from just satisfactory to delightful, the benefits that will follow will be enormous.
What are the benefits?
Customer delight invites loyalty from your customers. If your customers are delighted they spend more willingly, refer more, and stay longer. The re-purchase rate of a delighted customer is 3-10 times higher as compared to a satisfied customer.
This means a delighted customer will stick with your business and will happily spend more money in the future. You can receive help of customer service management system software and act accordingly.
Additionally, a delighted customer will promote and advocate your brand to others. A pleased customer will refer new clients your way. Here is a fact: Referral leads converts 30% better into permanent customers than market generated leads. So, a delighted customer will be a goldmine of referral leads, spreading your business.
How to delight your customers?
You need to make sure that customer service experience is quick and steady. You can make sure of this with the help of free customer service software. Hire efficient and skilled customer service staff that responds rapidly to your customer’s query and offer a quick solution.
Try to shift the humdrum customer experience into a unique one. Keep in mind a delighted customer is the key to a successful and groomed business.