Cheshire-based customer experience specialist and author Katie Stabler on the ways you can look after your customers

It’s been a strange month indeed. We have seen lockdown rules relax and then, in a blink of an eye, tighten once more, leaving businesses and customers alike in unfamiliar and uncertain circumstances.

Amidst all of this uncertainty, one thing we know for certain when it comes to business is that those businesses acting innovatively, are the ones who are leading the way to regeneration success. The following tips for getting back to business focus on the ease and opportunity to be found in innovation and the positive impact it can have on customer satisfaction and in turn, business optimisation.

It’s the small things that make a big difference:

1. Are your customers queueing outside to maintain social distancing? Leave umbrellas to shade them from the sun or rain and put up informational or inspirational posters for them to read while they wait.

2. Debating going online?

Whether you are thinking about selling online or offering a virtual booking/learning/training experience, now is the time. Take that step into the digital realm and offer your customers an easy, safe way to maintain their relationship with you.

3. Be brave with promotional offers

Customers are still wary, but they are also eager to return to normality. Give them the small nudge they need by providing them with an offer they quite simply can’t resist. You may even attract a new group of customers.

4. Innovate with partners

We are all in this together, so join forces and strike up new relationships. Are you a restaurant in need of a delivery driver? Chat with your local taxi firm. Are you a yoga teacher without a space for one-to-one training? Rent an event room from a local hotel.

5. Innovate with your customers

Listen to what your customers are saying – what do they want and need? Make sure you are promoting communication and take action to design your new experience around them.

6. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you

Katie Stabler is a customer experience specialist and author, dedicated to cultivating high-value customer experience through data, design and culture. She has spent a decade in experience design, working within both the not-for-profit and commercial sectors, and now runs her own customer experience consultancy, CULTIVATE Customer Experience by Design. Visit cultivatecustomerexperience.com

4 ways to welcome back your Cheshire customers

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