It can take a lot of work to get a new client. Once you’ve brought them on board, you’ll hope that they’ll stay with you for the duration of the customer life cycle. However, that’s not guaranteed. There are plenty of things that may make a customer leave you earlier than planned. Some of these reasons will be beyond your control; for example, if the company runs into financial difficulties. But sometimes, a client will leave you because of things you’ve done. If you’re annoying your customers, then there’ll be an increased chance of them ending the contract and finding another business to work with.
You can avoid this by first understanding the factors that annoy customers and then making sure that your business isn’t guilty of them. Below, we’ll run through some of the most commonly observed pain points.
Surprise Charges
Who wants to pay more than they thought they were going to pay? No one in their right mind. You can understand why companies would want to sneak in additional charges right at the last moment, but it’s a practice that’s best avoided. Keeping your prices low and attractive at the beginning will get people’s attention, but they’ll only turn around and find another business once they realize that the initial price was only there to get them “on the hook.” It’s best to just be as upfront as possible. There’ll be times when you genuinely do need to charge more, but those moments should be the exception, not the rule.
Payment Difficulties
Once a customer has gone through the process of assembling their order, the last thing they want to do is spend longer than necessary trying to make the payment. Businesses can make this more difficult than it needs to be by including too many steps or by only offering a single payment option. Businesses have their own preference about how they will pay for their goods. It’s best to offer a variety of payment options. And if possible, offer a variety of payment terms, too — could they pay in four installments, for example?
Difficulty in Contacting
If you have a well-put-together website, then the bulk of the information that your customers will need should be easy to find on your site. However, it’s important to remember that even if you do have a great website, there’ll always be information that you don’t include. If your customer has a question, then they’ll want to get in touch with you. The question is, how easy is it for them to do so? Make sure that you include your phone number, email address, and social media channels on your website. You may also want to include a live chat feature on your site, so your customers can speak to your team as conveniently as possible.
Of course, if you’re going to include your contact information, then you need to ensure that someone is monitoring those channels. There’s nothing worse than sending an email and never receiving a reply.
Losing Key Information
Customers want to feel like they’re valued by the companies they form a relationship with. And there are a few things that’ll very much compromise that feeling. For example, if you lose the key details of your customer. Nobody wants to relay the same pieces of information over and over again. It’s a good idea to invest in a good CRM (customer relationship management software) so that you’ll always know that your customer’s key information is safe and secure, and easily accessible by everyone on your team.
A Lack of Support
A company’s job isn’t done after they’ve made a sale. This is true for all companies, but it’s especially true in certain industries, such as the tech industry. Having been told how a product could make their life easier, clients want to know how it can do so once they’ve finally bought the product. For example, if you’re running a SaaS company, then it’ll be your job to provide ongoing support and tips and tricks that help your customers get the most from the software. This could come in the form of blog posts, tutorial videos, and by making a member of staff available to talk customers through the product.
Slow Delivery Times
We live in an age where people expect things to arrive quickly. Your customers aren’t going to be happy to wait indefinitely for an item to turn up. Indeed, take a look at negative reviews, and you’ll typically find that people aren’t always angry about the quality of the item — they can be happy with it — but will be unnecessarily annoyed if it takes a long time to arrive. Of course, the occasional late parcel is always going to happen. But if you’re consistently finding that your items are arriving late, then it’ll be time to review your delivery process.
Broken on Arrival
And even worse than late delivery is an on-time delivery that arrives with broken products. Your customers will be happy to see the box has arrived, but if they open it up and see broken goods, then it’s inevitable that they’ll be annoyed. And you can’t blame them — they’ll know that they’ll have to go through the process of getting in touch with you, sending the item back, and then waiting for the replacement to arrive. As with delivery time, this won’t always be your fault. Still, it’s important that you’re using quality wholesale packaging supplies, which will help to reduce the probability of your goods arriving damaged. If you do find yourself in this situation, then be sure to replace the goods as soon as possible, and pay for any associated delivery costs.
Untrained Staff
If a customer goes through the process of getting in touch with your company, then they’ll hope that it’s worth their effort. In fact, they’ll expect that it’s worth the effort. They’ll expect that the person they speak to will be able to help them. However, if your staff hasn’t been trained well, then that’s not guaranteed. They won’t be able to help your customers in any meaningful way. The solution? Train your staff, so they’re fully aware of everything to do with your products, including the problems that your customers might have.
Aggressive Marketing
You’ll need to market your goods and services. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. If you’re marketing your business too aggressively, then it’s possible that you cause your customers to grow frustrated and look elsewhere. Aggressive marketing can take multiple forms. It could be that you’re simply bombarding your customers with messages, emails, and so forth. Or it could be that you’re using shady tactics, such as using language that’s fear-based. You’ll want to bring customers on board, yes, but it’s important to do so in the right way.
Quality Reductions
We live in a time when many companies are having to reduce their expenses. However, while it can be necessary to do that, it’s important to think about where you’re cutting those expenses. If you’re cutting corners, then it could result in a reduction in the quality of your products. And if you’re still charging your customers the same amount of money, then you have to expect them to be a little annoyed. When it comes to slashing your budget, be sure that the end product that you offer your customers remains of the same high standard.
A Lack of Innovation
And over time, your products should actually improve. There aren’t too many companies that can rely on the same old product year after year. In the business world, you should always be looking to innovate and improve. Your clients will be doing just that in their own industries and will expect you to do the same. A company that fails to innovate risks losing its clients because if they’re not doing it, then someone else will.
Prioritizing New Customers
It makes sense that customers get annoyed when it feels like the companies they work with put too much emphasis on getting new customers. It’s a bit like a friend who uses all their charm when they meet new people. You can understand why companies do it (they need more customers), but it can be a slap in the face to people who have been with you through thick and thin. If you’re going to offer a potential new customer a deal, then make sure you’re offering the same to your existing clients. It’ll show that you care.
Failure to Listen
Finally, there’s the relationship factor. Many companies believe that they’re the talker, and the customer is the listener. But actually, it’s much more balanced than that. A good company should listen to what its customers have to say. After all, they know what they need more than you do. It can be frustrating for a customer to sit there and just have to listen to a company’s marketing; they’d be much happier if you listened to their concerns and acted on them.
