In today’s competitive and thriving market, for the growth of any business, the key lies in building a strong relationship with the customer and retaining him on a long term basis
Business meetings begin with key questions like – What are our customers saying? Are they complaining about anything? How can we grow our customer base? The reason for these questions is that customer retention is critical for every business.
A very important aspect of customer retention is ensuring they are happy and to avoid any sort of conflicts. Are there any ways or means that we can avoid or resolve their conflicts, without changing the way the brand is perceived and still gain an advantage?
Today with technology almost ruling our existence, customer service with appropriate conflict management is crucial to the personal touch we can offer to our customers. The moment any conflict arises, it could either make or break the deal. And if the conflict is online on any of the social media platforms, you know that there are millions of potential customers that are viewing it and building wrong perceptions about the business.
So the simple mantra is “Resolution of conflicts = Retention”
For a customer a single tweet or Instagram message to a famous brand could bring immediate resolution.
The brand image is what is at stake and so you will find that people even in the top-most positions of the business will get down to getting such conflicts resolved. The brand image and their value is a very important factor on social media and having conflict resolution in the shortest time possible is critical.
Steps To Quick Conflict Resolution
Customers can be very demanding. However, the essence still remains that the customer is critical to our business existence and should be treated that way. Let’s discuss a few ways to tackle these opportunities productively
Derive A Strategy
Very clear and precise steps need to be laid out to understand the extent that the business would be willing to go to resolve conflicts. The goal of this strategy is effective resolution, and ensuring customer retention. This strategy also needs to be focused on considering the vision and mission of the company.
Listen To The Customer
First and foremost, genuinely listening to the customer will help calm the irate customer and make him feel valued. Ensure that questions, if any, are in the direction of positive conflict resolution. In case, there is a mistake that the business has made, be sure to convey an appropriate apology.
Work Out A Resolution
Sometimes conveying an apology is enough, in other cases, you will need to find constructive ways to resolve the actual issue. You cannot afford to compromise the brand’s image in any way.
Gratitude
You want to make sure that the customer is given gratitude. They have spared time and attention to give you an opportunity to productively resolve a conflict.
The ability of the business to grow lies in its capability to effectively resolve the conflicts. Conflict can be expensive and no one wants to spend more time than needed to get it resolved. Hence, maintaining the right ways and means to achieve the right customer–conflict resolutions are what separate you and your business from the rest.
