When it comes to customer satisfaction, one thing is clear: we all want the same thing. Regardless of industry or business size, all companies want to make their customers happy. Why? Because happy customers keep coming back.
It could be a repeated purchase or a commitment to a subscription, but customer satisfaction is the lifeblood of business and economy. It’s a well-known fact that it’s easier (and cheaper) to retain existing customers than it is to gain new ones. In fact, a survey by Invesp found that acquiring a new customer costs five times the amount of existing customer retention.
So, long-story-short, keeping customers happy makes a lot of financial sense.
The real question is, how do we keep customers happy? Special offers? A personalised experience? Product improvements? All of those and more – but employee engagement should also be on that list.
“Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”
Why employee engagement improves customer satisfaction
The reason employee engagement is so important to improving customer satisfaction is because engaged employees are happy employees – and these employees are the people that your customers interact with.
Engaged employees = happy employees = happy customers.
Engaged employees provide superior service
If you think through your own experiences, you can probably remember times when customer-facing employees went above and beyond. Whether it’s a free hotel room upgrade or just the barista at your favourite coffee shop remembering your name, superior service often remembered.
Excellent customer service is usually displayed by people who are engaged with their job. Engaged employees will look beyond the basics of the job and pride themselves on a job well done. The passion for their role is what will keep customers returning time and again.
Engaged employees value customers
Imagine that you walk into an independent clothes shop, find a fantastic garment and take it to the counter only to find there’s no one there to serve you. When someone does arrive, they’re talking on their phone constantly and, after one-handedly scanning your item, offer their hand for payment without saying a word. Would you feel like a valued customer who wants to return? Probably not.
As a customer, you want to feel heard, that your opinions are important, that your concerns are cared about. Employees who are invested in their work are more likely to genuinely care about the customer and make them feel valued.
Engaged employees contribute to a positive brand reputation
Reputation is everything. In the same way that ‘people buy from people’ rather than a business, people also interact with people. These interactions then become topics of conversations among friends, family and colleagues. How these experiences go will directly affect the sort of reputation your business will gain. So, if you want to create a great reputation, make sure your employees are happy and invested in their roles.
A case study
Virgin is famously dedicated to making sure their customers are happy. The entire organisation is built on the belief that happy staff will create happy customers.
A review of Virgin’s approach to employee engagement by enRich HR identifies seven secrets to their success:
Authentic leadership – with Richard Branson frequently making an effort to communicate with his legion of staff on a personal level
An engaging culture– including a fun workplace
Learning from mistakes– rather than punishing them
Recognition– “If people are properly and regularly recognised for their initiative, then the business has to flourish. Why? Because it’s their business”
Listening to feedback– and then acting upon it
Passion for your work– from the top leadership
A different priority list– with employee appreciation right at the top
So clearly their employee engagement is top-notch, but does it work? Well, the Virgin Group brings in $21 billion dollars annually, so they’re doing okay.
