First, here are some typical answers you hear...
"Absolutely. Never had a complaint..."
"Customers seem to be happy as they keep coming back..."
"Yeah, but the market is so bad, it makes no difference how friendly we are..."
"Customers expect efficient service, not a red balloon!"
Now, let's go back to the question... what do we mean by "user-friendly"?
As long as you provide products and services and you can expect customers to evaluate the experience of dealing with you and your team just as they do every time they open an App on their iPhone or visit Amazon's website.
Agree? then here are a handful of tips burrowed from the world of User Experience (UX) to keep in mind and keep you "user-friendly" towards greater customer loyalty.
>>Accessible
Answer the phone... and reply to emails on the same day and be nice! customers and prospects need to be able to reach you easily and as directly as possible and irrespective of how big or small they may be or what they're calling about.
You may not have all the information they need straight away but you can at least acknowledge their call/email and offer a reasonable but definitive lead time to respond in full.
Culturally, we have moved a long way away from writing letters or listening to lift music for 20 minutes to speak to someone who may or may not help with our queries.
The point here is to remove barriers where possible and engage with a potential sale before someone else does. If you have to, certainly invest in Bots and other online tools such as webinars to engage with your market and let people access you wherever they are and at the time of their choice.
>>Useful/valuable
Make sure your services and products are relevant to your market's needs and in line with customers' expectations. Just because you've had a good run of it so far, that doesn't mean you will continue to be current and as useful as you were last year.
Give yourself a reality check every so often to see where you stand within your field and your market. What are you offering? and why is that useful to whom? is that enough...? or can you do more...? when was the last time you asked yourself those questions or, more importantly, asked your clients? (testimonials from friends and family don't count!)
>>Credible
Be consistent and transparent with your brand, your identity and what you do for a living. A business that chooses anonymity and hides behind generic websites, for example, are not serving their best interest credibility.
Customers need to know who you are, see your team and trust in the work you have done for others; they need to know that you exist in the flesh and not some off-grid outfit selling vapourware.
Oh and please be consistent... Still can't believe how lackadaisical people can be when sending out information or providing a service with different formats, duplication, lead-times, and prices. Imagine using the calculator on your smartphone and every time you get a different result to 2+2... if you're promising a '4', then stick to that and keep well within your customers' expectations. Give them a different result and you've lost them for good.
>>DesirableSpend time to understand what drives people to choose you over others. This is different from 'useful/valuable' and is all down to the image you project and how that sits with your clients or those who you'd like to be your clients.
A dirty beaten up van will not inspire people to use you to move their furniture...
Need to learn more? I am happy to chat further and see how I can help to ensure that your business is as 'user-friendly' as possible. Please contact me on hayder@fekaiki.com.
