Unhappy customers are a nightmare for businesses. We want our shoppers to love our products, patronise our brand, and make repeat purchases—but we can’t satisfy everyone.

Fortunately, keeping customers happy is not an impossible endeavour. To keep customers coming back, you can avoid a few mistakes and execute key marketing strategies.

Below, we’ll provide seven tips to help you avoid unhappy customers.

1. Collect customer feedback.

How can you improve your products? Why are customers not making repeat purchases? Customer feedback is crucial to uncovering problems and improving customer experiences.

In fact, a study found that only one out of every 26 customers complain. The rest will just keep quiet and move on to another business.

Lost customers mean lost profits. No customer experience is perfect. However, you can retain the ones you already have by simply getting their assessment of your business.

Create a survey with questions like “How can we improve our products?”, “How would you rate our product?”, “How would you describe your experience with our team?”. Just send it to your email subscribers—and you’re good to go.

Netflix’s customer feedback form encourages customers to rate their programs and films to further improve their experience.

While the survey may be short, it helps uncover valuable information about your services. Add open-ended questions to get their overall feedback or ask ratings for key aspects of your shopping experience. The information you get will be valuable to growing your business.

2. Customer service.

Responsive customer service is key to attracting and retaining your customers. Moreover, people crave omnichannel customer support as 90% of customers expect companies to provide good customer service on different communication channels.

Nextiva reports that 73% of customers believe friendly customer service representatives encourage them to stick to a brand. In addition, 96% of consumers believe it is an important factor that contributes to brand loyalty.

Every now and then, we encounter issues about products and services. Hence, businesses that can resolve customer complaints are likely to retain them in the long-run.

For your part, ensure customer support hotlines are available and visible to consumers. Respond to complaints or inquiries through email, social media, phone and live chat. Train customer sales representatives to identify needs and resolve issues in a respectful manner.

Alternatively, you can leverage chatbots that can send automated responses to inquiries. An interesting report by Backlinko revealed that 69% of consumers prefer to use chatbots because of the speed at which they can communicate with the brand.

3. No loyalty program

What if you could reward customers for their loyalty to your online store?

A report by Candybar revealed that 81% of customers are more likely to stay loyal to brands with loyalty programs.

Not surprisingly, consumers love loyalty programs. We all want to be rewarded for our repeat purchases through discounts, gifts and access to exclusive products. If we can get valuable rewards for patronising our preferred brands, we’re also likely to stick with them in the long-term. As a result, brands that leverage loyalty programs are more likely to build a strong customer base.

For example, the Sephora Beauty Insider loyalty program has more than 12 million members, which contribute to a whopping 80% of the beauty giant’s annual profits. Members can earn exclusive perks like cash rewards, free samples, exclusive gifts, and even participate in point multiplier events.

].For example, Korean skincare brand Soko Glam runs a blog called “The Klog”. Here, they educate users about the benefits of specific skincare ingredients and share informative product reviews.

6. No referral programme.

No referral programme yet? You’re missing out on a big opportunity.

Think about the last time you learned about a new product or service.

How did you discover the brand? Was it recommended by your friends and family? Were you more likely to trust the referral because it was provided by a trusted loved one?

In a nutshell: This is the power of referral marketing.

People are more likely to trust referrals from their network rather than sponsored ads or branded webinars. Likewise, they love to talk about their favourite brands to ensure their friends and family have good customer experiences.

While referrals can happen organically, you can also gamify the process through a referral programme.

For starters, referral programmes incentivise customers to refer their friends in exchange for discounts, exclusive offers, or cash rewards. The more friends they refer, the more rewards they receive.

For example, Adore Beauty’s referral programme lets brand advocates earn $10 when their referred friend makes a purchase. Likewise, the referred friend also gets $10 off their first order which encourages them to try out the brand.

7 lessons from unhappy customers.

Ready to grow?