One of the most important factors in motivating your customer to take action is in cultivating clarity and empathy in your message. It??™s fairly easy to develop clarity; it simply involves talking to your customer on a personal level.
However, developing empathy remains a challenge for many business owners. This is because many people stubbornly only see their own perspective in life. Failing to see other points of view will severely limit your success in business.
Many business owners are distrustful of customers and are motivated to make quick money before the customer has a chance to change his or her mind. There??™s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to make money! That??™s why you??™ve come this far, no doubt.
But remember that the foolish man (or woman) goes for the quick sale. The smart businessperson develops relationships, which leads to quick sales and repeat sales and referrals.
In order to build relationships with customers you need to develop the quality of empathy, so that you can put yourself in their shoes and figure out what they want from your business. It doesn??™t take much to give sympathy to a customer.
You simply nod your head and say, ???I know what you mean and I??™m sorry.??? Empathy involves you understanding why the customer is unhappy and taking the initiative to fix the problem in whatever reasonable way possible.
There are many businesses that do not adhere to this principle of business. They give their customers the run around. They explain ???company policy.??? They lecture their customers about why the situation has happened. In keeping with these attitudes, they are slowly but surely losing part of their customer base and plenty of repeat business and referrals.
You, as a new business owner, should cultivate a ???Zero Pride??? attitude in your dealings with customers and refrain from practices that would give you the reputation of having a ???superiority attitude.???
Some businesses take this lesson far out, perhaps to territory that you are uncomfortable with. They may offer 100% money back guarantees. They may offer assurances of lifetime guarantees. It??™s not always necessary that you give the customer exactly what they want to settle the dispute; just be aware that there are many competing businesses that will do just that.
Furthermore, it??™s not about letting the customer ???win.??? It??™s about developing empathy and seeing the situation through the customer??™s eyes.
Regardless of what policies you choose, be sure to announce all of these concessions on your advertising campaign. Mention any special guarantees you have, or the strong commitment you have to making customers happy.
Do not simply promise that you are kind to your customers–provide evidence of this point. List your testimonials (hopefully verifiable outside of your website, such as a company name) proudly and let your customers know that in your company, you believe customer satisfaction is ultimately your success.