Do These 3 Things and Your  Happy Customers will Show You Their Love

If you've ever worked in the retail industry, you're probably familiar with the expression "the customer is always right". However, you probably also know that the reality is the customer can in fact sometimes be wrong - but no matter what, you cater to them anyway.

The crux of this message is if you want to create a loyal customer base and maintain a crystal-clean brand image, you've got to keep your customers happy. That's something that translates beyond the retail world, and across any kind of business.

Happy customers, and a steady flow of work, equals happy managers.

The problem is, in a digital workplace it can be difficult to identify exactly what keeps your customers happy and it's not usually as straightforward to pinpoint it as 'let them know they're always right'.

Sometimes, you can feel like you're doing anything and everything to maintain a good relationship and it's still not quite working.

In our experience at PIQNIC, we've come to learn that getting right back to basics can solve a tonne of customer relationship issues.

If you stick to getting these three things right, your customers will start to show you some well-deserved love.

1. Manage your files and documents efficiently

Information is both everywhere and nowhere exactly when we need it. In fact, you're probably more familiar with this scenario than you think.

Imagine this. You're in a meeting with a customer you're trying to win and they're asking you on the spot to quickly pull up some examples of technical work you've done prior to your meeting.

Unfortunately, your internal work folders are structured a little too widely, the are no naming conventions in place so searching the specific file you need is hopeless unless you can remember the exact name, and you're not entirely sure where your colleague saved it in the first place.

You've hit the first hurdle, and your customer gets the impression that you're disorganised before you even get to show them your hard work.

That's point one you need to master: manage your files and documents efficiently.

We've been looking at how we organise information the wrong way. Right now, you're forced to hunt for information based on where it is, which could be anywhere; email, local drive, shared drive, cloud drive, messaging apps - anywhere. Plus, there's too much focus on file names and collapsed folder systems, when the real efficiency can be picked up in the form of metadata.

Want to know exactly how it works? Check out our recent blog: If you're storing information in folders, you're doing it wrong.

Essentially, metadata is a set of fields and values used to classify and organise documents and give a detailed preview of what a document contains. It's a part of a document, but you won't see it unless you intentionally set out to access it.

Just enter the key information, and hey presto, the exact document or file you're looking for is right in front of you.

Trust us, you customers will thank you for it.

2. Improve work practice and management

Once you've got your information under control, the next step to customer happiness is to improve your work practice and management.

What exactly do we mean by that?

Well, if you were to do a stock-take of your daily interactions and where your time is actually going in a day (we actually have a quiz made to help you figure that out), you'll come to find that workplace distractions typically come in thick and fast.

Hours spent in meetings, endless email threads with cc's and bcc's, notifications from chats and tags in your workflow - it's easy to see how difficult it is to stay on task.

Ensuring that you have a platform that centralises your workflow and allows you to manage all elements of a project and collaborate with a client efficiently is paramount to saving time, and working at pace.

A smooth, collaborative process means a happy client - and that's a win-win for everyone involved.

3. Customer Experience

Once you've got points one and two refined and perfect, you're ready to enter your customer into the mix. This is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle that really delights customers.

Typically, customers are expected to remain disconnected from internal processes, receiving old-fashioned emails, links to file-sharing platforms, and a string of other single-purpose apps. You can imagine how much digital noise and distraction that can entail.

If you want to keep your client happy, you need to rethink how you're engaging with your clients digitally.

Research tells us that customers are tired of working through threads of emails to find the parts that are relevant to them. Including them in the process through digital collaboration can do wonders for your customer relationships. It increases awareness, communication, and provides a framework where key actions can happen effortlessly and without friction.

A dream, in the digital workplace.

How to make it happen

Once you've nailed all three points, things will work like clockwork and you'll start to notice your customers showing you a little more love.

However, most businesses can only dream of a scenario where their files are perfectly managed, their workflows are efficient, and their projects are collaborative and centralised - without paying a small fortune.

PIQNIC has made this dream a possibility, by spending years developing a platform that's tailored to solve these specific, common problems, and delight your customers.

Interested?

You can grab a FREE demo of how PIQNIC can help you, today. Just click below!