How to Convert Customer Satisfaction to Delight and Win Customer Loyalty

By Staff Contributor on July 12, 2017


customer loyalty

For companies that provide IT service support, customer satisfaction is a critical measurement of the perceived value of your customer support. Many companies gather feedback from customers after they receive service and quantify the results into a numerical or star rating. It is important to help ensure that your team understands the feedback you receive, and works hard to achieve and maintain a strong rating.

The quality of the support your IT help desk provides can make or break your reputation, and significantly impact your bottom line. In a recent article titled “5 Dangerous Side Effects of Bad Customer Service,” Impact Brand & Marketing cited a study which found that nearly all respondents tell at least one person about a negative customer service experience, and more than half inform five or more other people. In addition to spreading the word about a bad experience, according to the [24]7, Inc. 2016 Customer Engagement Report, 79 percent of dissatisfied consumers would switch to a competitor afterward. Clearly, the consequences of providing poor customer service can be disastrous for your business. However, achieving a high satisfaction score isn’t the only thing you need to engage your clients and win their loyalty.

What does a high customer satisfaction rating mean? This metric tells you that your IT support team resolves customer problems adequately and to their liking. What it doesn’t say is how happy your clients are with your product or service—or if they would buy from you again. When someone reaches out to your team for service, you have an opportunity to go beyond just fixing their problem. Your team’s goal should be to convert customer satisfaction to delight and win customer loyalty. You want repeat business, word-of-mouth (WoM) advertising (the most effective kind of marketing), and customers who view you as a long-term partner in their business success.

Customer Satisfaction Versus Customer Delight

No doubt you’ve read that customer service is the key to your company’s success.  Business leaders now tout the need to go above and beyond and delight your customers. For example, consider the experience of taking your car to a dealership to have it serviced. If the service reps repair any problems, you might rate your satisfaction highly, but would the experience motivate you? Would you tell your friends about the great service or return to buy another car from the dealer? Mercedes-Benz recognized this opportunity and revamped their service experience to delight customers and win their loyalty.

How can you convert customer satisfaction with your IT service support team into customer delight? Start by using help desk automation tools. Help desk automation tools allow tech support reps to provide excellent service by freeing them up to:

  • Taking time to listen to your customers demonstrates respect. It also gives you the opportunity to take notes. With help desk software, your reps can use the custom note field to add personal information so employees who speak with customers can have engaging, human interactions.
  • Get Better. By tracking the frequency of service requests in your help desk software you can identify opportunities to make changes to your product or service to help eliminate customers’ pain points. Preventing future problems and making sure your offering is the best available are both powerful ways to delight customers.
  • Solve Problems. Automated ticket management allows your IT support team to route service requests to specific team members based on areas of specialization, or escalate issues if necessary. Because necessary information is stored in your help desk software, support staff can resolve problems in the shortest time possible. Efficient service is a fundamental component of customer delight.

Every service call provides an opportunity to engage with your customers. And customer engagement is how you transform satisfaction into delight. People who feel listened to, who believe that they are using the best brand and receive fast and convenient service will become evangelists for your brand.

Win Customer Loyalty

Loyal customers are your organization’s most valuable asset. In some industries, increasing customer loyalty by 5 percent can increase profits by as much as 95 percent. It is also much easier to generate repeat business from existing customers than from new ones, so customer loyalty can help to reduce your marketing costs.

Delighted customers love to tell their friends and family about their favorite brands. This free advertising is also the most effective marketing available. In the age of social media, positive (and negative) reviews can reach a global audience 24/7, which illustrates the reasons why delighting your customers should be the goal for your help desk service team.

Equipping your IT support team with automated help desk software makes good business sense. Allow your IT team to do more than meet customer expectations and achieve a high customer satisfaction rating. Give them the tools to delight your customers.

Try SolarWinds Web Help Desk® for free. Download here.

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