Businesses often tout that they are "customer-focused" but in fact, they may only be focusing on what they assume the customer wants. Unless they're really taking the pulse of those they serve, through surveys and communication, the business may be more internally focused than keeping clients happy. Can business leaders help change the focus?
Does business leadership influence client satisfaction?
Change Starts at the Top
Obviously, leadership may not be able to talk to partners and clients all the time. However, the commitment to client satisfaction must be an enterprise-wide effort that goes from the top down. Executives must actively endeavor to connect and listen to clients, even if it's through their direct reports. They can also prompt the sharing of client requests or lessons learned in internal communications to inspire creative thinking and reward those who are client-focused.
Effective Training for Client Success
Another way to support client success is to implement cohesive leadership and customer service training. When executives leave the business (the average tenure is 5 years or less), the leadership culture of middle management and supervisors will continue. Leadership training must include the strategies of "total quality management" or TQM to help foster greater service levels and customer loyalty. By adopting a client success strategy into required training, all levels of the organization are working together to boost client satisfaction.
See also: Increase B2B Client Loyalty with These Survey Questions
Treat Employees Well
Treat employees well and they will treat your clients well. From company culture to benefits to training, employee satisfaction is directly correlated to customer satisfaction. When employees feel as if their employer listens to feedback and invests in their well-being, they're more willing to connect, listen and respond better during client interactions.
Measure, Shift and Measure Again
The best way to ensure that clients are happy is to utilize tools to measure their sentiment. These tools can be a simple feedback survey or a benchmarking tool such as a Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) or Net Promoter Score (NPS). Management must also be willing to examine these scores and make the changes required to meet even their most challenging client requests. If the goal is to keep clients loyal, then these measurements should be taken on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, some businesses aren't aware that clients aren't satisfied until they stop paying their invoices or monthly subscription. If your business finds itself in this situation, let Enterprise Recovery help to recover what's owed to you while your business leaders tackle the client satisfaction efforts. If we can't collect for you, you don't owe us anything. Really.