We all want to claim that we are ‘resident-centric’ and ‘customer-focused’,
but only the best of us have strategies in place to turn our residents and family members into Company Advocates. These advocates are not only willing, but eager to share great things about your community and defend it without any incentive.
If you are serious about company loyalty and improving your customers’ experience read ahead and apply these 5 steps to turn your customers into your best salespeople.
- Prioritize Individual Interactions
Not only do your sales, marketing, and management department need to provide excellent customer service, but your front end staff must as well. It would be wise to hold ‘customer service’ training for ALL staff, this should include fielding phone calls, emails, and face to face interactions. Your customers don’t care about your chain of command, they just care about getting answers ASAP. - Engage families and prospects via multiple channels
Engage customers via multiple channels. Your Sales and Marketing Department must be equipped to engage via phone, email, social media, and even text message or video chat. Your families, residents, and prospects expect to be able to reach out through whichever channel is most convenient and receive a quick response. Ensure that your staff has the resources available to answer questions and resolve issues any time and any place. - Provide a consistent, connected customer experience
Even if your sales department excels at interacting with families and prospects, if your care or dining department doesn’t then your customers will be left feeling upset and confused. This poor customer experience can result in satisfaction levels plummeting and one less potential referral. - Make it easy to do business with your company
Evaluate every kind of interaction customers have with your company. How easily can residents and families find you online? How long do families typically wait for a reply, and how much effort is required to resolve an incident? How fast are you responding email inquiries? Who are they speaking to after hours? Test out some of these interactions yourself, then bring your experience back to your team for improvements. - Collect and act on customer feedback
Collect customer feedback and have a formal process for addressing and incorporating it into your decision making.
If you implement one or two of these steps provided into your marketing strategy, the difference in your customer satisfaction and your referral sales will likely be enormous. Be sure to recognize and reward those who are loyal to your company, a ‘We Appreciate You’ goes a long way!
