4 Things Your Customers Really Want From You

I used to frequent this sushi restaurant down the street from my college campus about once a week or so, because lets face it, the average dinning hall spread gets old fast.

One afternoon I remember one of the waiters approached my friend and I and asked,"what are you girls doing after this, do you have work or class or something?"

Assuming some sort of cheap pick up line was to follow, we looked at each unamused and responded, "no we don't have plans", hoping he would pick up on our enthusiastic body language.

To our surprise he simply smiled and walked away.

5 or so minutes later he returned with two Saki bombs and said "I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any obligations before I brought these out. I overheard you talking about finals week, and you both look a little stressed so these are on me."

Cheers.

Now that is what your customers really want from you.

No not Saki bombs (although they were a nice gesture), but rather the extra mile, the unexpected, the x factor that sets your business apart from their other options. 

By treating your customers less like a profit and more like a human, you will increase the likelihood that they will return to you again.

Customers don't want to be bought and sold. Here's 4 things that your customers really want from you that you may not have known before.

A Solution to Their Problem

"The businesses that are the best educators will be the most successful.” - Mark Killens, HubSpot

The sooner your business learns to drop the sales pitch and focus on providing real, actionable solutions to your personas problems the better.

What many business often forget is that their customers aren't necessarily looking to purchase a product or a service, but rather a solution to their problem. By looking at your marketing efforts through this perspective, it is easier to speak to the needs of your customer specifically.

There are a million products and services being bought and sold regularly, but there aren't a lot of businesses focused on providing customers with free resources over a sales spiel. By focusing on providing a solution to your personas problems above anything else, you are not only setting yourself apart from the noise, but also generating a positive reputation for your business.

An Engaging User Experience

The user experience put forth by your business will determine the way in which people interact with you, and ultimately sway their purchasing decision.

How are you customers expecting your website to look and function? Anything less than what they expect has the ability to stifle your business' influence.

You want to be sure that you website is designed for humans above anything else. It should flow visually, and have a navigation bar in place that makes it easy to make your way around the site over anything else.

Design your website and your content around your overall goal to be sure that your visitors will get what you set out for them to get out of it, whether it be to lead them to a purchasing decision,

A Response to Their Input

If you don't respond to a customer's feedback, how will they know that you've heard them?

While you may feel like you don't have time, your customers expect you to listen. Whether the feedback is positive, negative, solicited or unsolicited, customers expect that the business they are reaching out will value their input.

By frequently monitoring your business' social media interactions, blog comments, and online reviews you will be more inclined to uncover negative feedback as it surfaces, and potentially diffuse the situation before it snowballs.

On the contrary, uncovering positive feedback in a timely manner will help you

More than Just a Sale

We make so many purchases on a regular basis that it can be difficult to differentiate one purchasing experience from the next unless there is something remarkable about the interaction.

Your customers expect more than just a receipt and a closed door for communication at the end of the sales process.

By leaving the floor open for follow-up conversations, questions, suggestions, and additional interactions will help the customer see your business in a unique light. A light in which simply satisfactory customer service interactions cannot reach.

If a waiter can receive a 21% better tip when they leave two free “after dinner” mints with the check, think about what going the extra mile could mean for your business. (Source: Journal of Applied Psychology)

An email with relevant additional resources, a coupon, or a thank you note will help to strengthen the relationship you have developed with your customers, and increase the likelihood that they will purchase from you again.

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