We have all been consumers, which means we have all been happy customers and unhappy customers. Whether it is intentional or not, we often share our good and bad experiences with friends and family. As a business owner, it is important to keep that in mind, because 72% of consumers will go on to share a positive experience with 5 or more of their contacts. Adversely, about 13% of unhappy customers share their negative experience with 15+ people. Either way you look at it, keeping customers happy is pretty important for more than just that one customer. 

Unfortunately, many businesses don’t even know when a customer was unhappy with their experience. Sure, a really angry customer will make sure they are heard, but what about the customer who was unimpressed and agitated by your service, but not enough to mention it at the time? That customer may just go on to vent about it to their neighbors, friends and family. That is why asking customers for feedback following each and every service is invaluable for a business. Catching an upset customer early, and making things right can make all the difference. People love to feel heard and understood; whether they are happy or angry. In fact, 77% of consumers agree that they favor businesses who ask for their feedback. 

There are some things businesses can do to ensure that customers are having a positive experience:

1. Make working with your business convenient. Be available to your customers through text, webchat and other online platforms.
2. Store customer messages all in one place, so conversations are not slipping through the cracks.
3. Keep your conversations online. Storing customer information and data makes it easier to engage with customers in the future in a way that is helpful and relevant to them. 
4. Ask customers for feedback and respond when they provide it. Whether customers have positive or negative responses for your business, a response is always a good idea. 
5. Engage with customers between services. Make it easy for customers to reach out to your business when they need you again by keeping the communication lines open. 
6. Leave fliers, stickers, magnets or other collateral with your customers after services that provide a QR code they can easily scan to start a conversation with your business. 

When 72% of customers are sharing positive experiences with their family and friends after working with a business, it is important for businesses to ensure their customers are happy after each service. Implementing new strategies and technologies that improve customer satisfaction is the first step to having the best business reputation and most loyal customers. 

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. If any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!