Making customers happy

One of the top goals of any successful business should be to make their customers happy. Customers buy the products or services, and in today's world customers are the ones who can build or ruin a reputation. Your customers are your life blood, they are what improve cash flow, and create a following that is loyal. Thus, making them happy should be on the top of your priority list. Here are a few things to consider:

Give the customers more- Give them more options. Give them more locations. Give them more chances to indulge in fantasies. In other words, while what you offer may be a great product or service at a great price, layer on the benefits. The more you can give, the happier they will be. Often you can do this without incurring too much more expense on your end anyway. Why limit their choice if you do not have to? Customers want all the perks, and many won't be satisfied without options. Evaluate your product or service to determine if there is a way you can give more options, more locations, or more convenience of some kind.

Make it simpler and more transparent- Customers need simplicity, and they don't want sticker shock. One of the best ways to make customers happy is to simplify anything you can. Simplify price structure; simplify product user manuals, etc. In other words, whatever you offer should be easy to understand, easy to pay for, and easy to use. This does not mean it is easy. If you offer software, it might be extremely technical and complicated behind the scenes, but as far as the customer is concerned, the easier it is the better. Also, make sure they know the cost upfront. It can be really frustrating to a customer to think their bill will be one thing, and then have it be a lot more. Transparency and simplicity should be your company mantra.

Discount the loyal- Customers will likely want to be loyal to you already if you are doing the first two things on this list, but you can engage customers further and get even more return customers by discounting the loyal. This can be a punch card, buy ten get one free, like many food places offer. It can be a loyalty rewards program, or a discounted rate to frequent users. Whatever way you choose to make it happen does not matter nearly as much as making it happen. Discount the loyal, and they are more likely to stay that way.

Fill a real need- Lastly, you can make your customers truly happy by filling a real need. Customers might enjoy something fun, but they appreciate and are loyal to something that satisfies a real need that they have. Look at your market, and look for needs that are not being met that you could meet in some way.