Chris Russell (pictured below), co-founder of eDigitalResearch, shares some secrets on how to improve customer satisfaction and the business bottom line.

Keeping customers close and costs down are two of the highest priorities for businesses as they continue to navigate the rocky road of recession. But faced with the prospect of making less budget stretch across a growing number of customer contact points, marketers increasingly find themselves stuck in limbo, trying to strike a balance between satisfying their customers and the executive board.

Public expectation continues to grow and trying to keep customers loyal is no easy task, especially given that people are more likely to purchase on price. Our recent customer satisfaction survey shows 81 per cent of people readily admit to remaining loyal to a retailer who regularly offers discounts. Further evidence also suggests that the popularity of the online marketplace will continue to grow as 96 per cent of people believe that there are better deals to be had online.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Our research demonstrates there are some simple, low cost measures marketers can take to help them keep customers loyal and profits healthy.

Remove the ‘barriers to buy’
Businesses are responding to consumer reticence to buy by incentivising customers to shop online through cut-price offers, discount codes and voucher schemes. While this is undoubtedly a lure, such costly promotions are only padding a false economy if websites are difficult to navigate and the path to sales is long-winded and frustrating. Incentives will only keep customers close if they are relevant, engaging and the online purchasing process is simple. So, before slashing prices and introducing offers, businesses should first invest in website enhancements that make it easier for people to get from search to the checkout.

Be responsive
The growth in the online channel means that customers now expect to get the same or greater treatment online, regardless of supplier. Available on a 24/7 basis, the Internet provides greater convenience and flexibility, with people able to switch to another supplier in an instant. While consumers are initially lured by value, our research demonstrates that consumer confidence is mainly driven by the quality of customer service. It is therefore of vital importance that no query goes unanswered.

Despite this, consumer satisfaction in online services is dropping and is now at its lowest ebb since our records began. This is evidence to prove that despite budgetary cutbacks, public expectation continues to grow. Also, with the online marketplace attracting more people, demand is beginning to overwhelm suppliers.

One of the biggest reasons for customer dissatisfaction that we have identified through our research is the inability to resolve queries quickly. Internet users expect to receive a response within 24 hours and failure to do this will undoubtedly lead to people detracting to a competitor.

Insist on 360-degree quality
A poor customer experience will damage any business. The rise of social networking has given the consumer more power than ever before. One bad experience could result in a blog entry that is read by millions, with no regulation to control it. It is therefore critical to ensure that the end-to-end online consumer experience is good.

While customer service is a key element in customer satisfaction, if businesses want to maximise their online investment, it is important to understand the complete online customer experience. Creating strong consumer loyalty demands a positive experience from first impressions through to product search, payment, delivery and customer service. Customer satisfaction is not driven by cost alone. It is driven by how easy it is to find and buy what they’re looking for and by consistency in the quality of every interaction they have with the brand.

Engage customers in new ways
Getting customers involved and asking them for feedback is not a new tactic but it is a necessary one, especially in today’s user-generated content world. Intelligent businesses are tapping into this, improving their order placement processes and key word searches and are beginning to introduce product ratings and web 2.0 features.

For example, the UK newspaper, The Daily Mirror, has developed an online community to better engage with public opinion in order to shape its editorial and stay on the pulse of a younger demographic. Using social networking features such as blogs, RSS feeds and quick polls, The Daily Mirror can gain instant, invaluable feedback, while creating new channels for public engagement.

Similarly, fashion retailer New Look has built a ‘MyLook’ community which invites fashionistas to share their views, suggest improvements and offer feedback on the latest fashion trends. In return, they will be the first to know about events and ideas as well as provided with the opportunity to win prizes and goodies for their postings.

Measure the end-to-end customer experience
While technological advances such as web 2.0 are helping businesses to engage with consumers in new ways, without the ability to effectively measure and process the information that they are getting from consumers, the marketer won’t stand to gain any return from investment.

Economic pressures and technological advances are placing greater pressures on the need for market research to provide better informed insights to enhance customer satisfaction and brand perception. With the growth in popularity of the online market, marketers who fail to invest in tracking the underbelly of what is happening online will lose out.

New advances in online research techniques means businesses can now automatically analyse responses in their group discussion areas through intelligently linking together responses from individuals and groups. This provides businesses with a way of managing unstructured information so they can gain ongoing customer insight. It also provides for greater customer profiling, as marketers can identify the consumers who bring the most value to their business and target them more effectively with better offers and promotions.

Although traditional research methodologies such as focus groups still have their place, businesses are increasingly turning to online research methods as they provide cheaper, faster and more dynamic insights into the business. Part of the beauty of this approach is it allows marketers to change their marketing strategies more immediately in response to what’s selling or not selling.

The use of online research panels can help businesses to measure the end-to-end online user experience. Marketers can quickly build qualitative surveys and polls so that they can gauge public opinion about their marketing efforts. The speed of data capture also enables them to keep more quickly informed about changing market trends.

Conclusion
Satisfaction and success comes from the ability to engage and respond quickly to what your customers want. A business that can make it as simple as possible for customers to buy; that listens and responds; delivers a consistently high level service across the board; and that engages customers in new ways, while gaining measurable feedback is a business that will thrive.

Not rocket science I hear you say?

Look at the number of businesses currently getting it wrong and you’ll appreciate that striking the right balance is not always as easy as it seems!

Chris Russell is a founding director of eDigitalResearch, which enables customers to make critical business decisions with the benefit of comprehensive consumer insight and informed direction: www.edigitalresearch.com