Cultivating Happy Customers

Hello everybody,
Today I'm going to introduce you to the last Hubspot class of cultivating happy customers.

This class is the only class in the Delight Phase of the Inbound Methodology. Studies show that it is 6-7x most costly to gain a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer. 7% of consumers say that their customer service experiences with companies typically exceed their exceptions. Only 7%. This is ridiculous considering customer delight is a competitive advantage, any of your customers can become promoters that will attract more strangers to your business. Customer delight is not just a post-sale activity, it should be a priority both pre- and post- sale and wherever customers are in the buyer's journey. There are 3 pillars of customer delight. First is innovation- change is better than the status quo. Second is communication- personal is better than impersonal. Third is education- empowering is better than ignoring.

There are seven customer delight guidelines

1. Delight Employees
   Delight your employees and they will delight you customers. Both customers and employees are any business's greatest assets, so your hiring methodology is critical to delighting your customers. When hiring look for skills, culture fit, beliefs, experience, and ideas.
2. Educate Employees
   Develop team principles for your employees to follow. These principles should reinforce the fact that employees should always solve for the customer. There are different ways to execute employees such as teach every employee the pillars of customer delight. Implement a new hire training program. Develop ongoing training programs. Educate them by doing, bot by way of lecture or presentation. Share stories of what great customer service resembles. Share examples of what solving for the customer looks like. Everyone at the business should be educating employees in some capacity.
3. Empower Employees
   Everyone at the business should be able to identity the persona. Let employee's personality shine through. Keep in mind the customer delight checklist: Solve their problem, provide recommendation, and be enthusiastic and fun. Always under promise and over deliver.
4. Listen
   Collect data - identify opportunities to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. You can do this through social monitoring. Silence is your friend, so keep in mind the 80/20 rule, you only talk about 20%. Repeat what the customer sad to make sure you're all on the same page. Show empathy and be empathetic.
5. Ask Questions
   Go exploring with customers. Pay attention to verbal and non-verbal communication.
6. Help and Educate
   Be problem solvers. Create content made just for customers. Focus on how can you exceed their expectations. It's not just what you say, but how you make them feel that create a lasting relationship.
7. Follow Up
   Make sure you always resolve all of their problems. Be on time especially after someone just became a customer because that time is critical.

Keep in mind that all small interactions add up to the experience in a whole, so always focus on delighting your customers.

-Caitlin Campbell