The goal of every business is to make a profit, but sometimes in the quest for higher earnings, the focus on customer satisfaction may be overlooked. It is crucial for business owners to find a balance between driving profits and keeping customers happy, as unhappy customers can lead to a loss of revenue.
Companies that prioritize customer satisfaction tend to have a more loyal customer base, which can translate to long-term profitability. To that end, the members of Forbes Business Council offer 15 essential considerations business owners should keep in mind to balance profits and customer satisfaction.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Focus On People
The ultimate aim of a business driving profits is to generate long-term value. Losing sight of customers and what their needs are is an indication of “value leakage.” An opportunity to build optimal value is lost when one aspect of the business (profits) is chosen at the expense of another (client and customer needs). In many companies currently, value leakage is due to a loss of focus on employees. – Tejal Shah, Congruent Advisory Services LLC
2. Improve Experience, Then Pricing
Profits and the customer experience can’t really be separated when it comes down to it. Consistently deliver a better quality experience than your competitors can. It’s in that rarity of quality where profits are the safest. Increase and stabilize the quality of the experience, increase the price and then repeat. – Eric Waller, Total Roofing Systems LLC
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3. Listen To Customer Feedback
Profit and customer satisfaction can coexist. Prioritize customer needs to ensure long-term business success. Listen to feedback, address concerns and improve the customer experience. Happy customers lead to loyalty and trust, creating long-term value for businesses. – Alexander Westgarth, WineCap Ltd
4. Prioritize Company Culture
A business is like a three-legged stool. The three legs are cash, culture and customers. When each of these legs becomes weak, the entire business becomes weak. While focusing on profits and customers, business owners must not forget company culture as the third and most important leg of the stool. – Arnav Dalmia, Cubii
5. Focus On Customer Acquisition
Remember that without customers, there are no profits. When trying to drive profits, businesses should focus on customer acquisition more than extracting more profits per customer. Never forgetting how hard it was to get the first 100 customers will always keep your eye on the existing customers’ success. – Adam Rumanek, Aux Mode
6. Be Valuable To Customers
Being valuable to customers helps to ensure the long-term success of a business. Providing valuable products helps to differentiate your business from competitors, making your business more attractive to customers. Moreover, businesses that are valuable to customers are more resilient during economic downturns because customers are more likely to continue to support them. – Mila Smart Semeshkina, Lectera
7. Start With The End In Mind
Business owners should start with the end in mind. Higher levels of customer satisfaction lead to higher levels of customer loyalty, which in turn leads to higher profits. Profit is a result of a relentless focus on delivering products that are valuable to buyers. – Jason Murray, Fringe
8. Provide Quality Products And Services
Focus on providing quality products and services that meet customers’ expectations in order to maintain loyalty. Listening attentively to customer feedback and implementing ways of improving operations based on their suggestions is also essential for maintaining good customer relationships. In the end, putting the customer first will drive better financial outcomes for any business. – Preston Byrd, Horizon Companies
9. Increase Customer Lifetime Value
Balancing profits and customer satisfaction is a challenge for business owners. To strike this balance, the customer should always come first, with companies prioritizing their needs and satisfaction. If you focus on keeping customers happy, profits will come. Learn about the customer lifetime value (CLV) and seek to maximize retention and long-term value over short-term profits. – Aaron Poynton, Omnipoynt Solutions
10. Understand Reasons For Loyalty
Know why your customers are loyal—and don’t let profit-seeking threaten the core reasons they shop with you. For instance, right now many e-commerce merchants are introducing restocking fees on returns. If you sell an original, moated DTC product, your customers may tolerate such a fee. But if you’re one of many resellers, your customers will simply find a competitor willing to undercut you. – David Wagoner, P3 Media
11. Define Business Purpose
Like Peter Drucker once said, the primary reason for any business to exist should be the betterment of society. One of the best ways to keep a business healthy is to ensure the purpose of the business is well-defined and focuses on society (customers) and the longevity of the business (profits). Through this purpose, defining well-balanced strategic goals is the way to go. – Nikhil Maini, Synergogy
12. Build A Partnership With Customers
There is a virtuous circle that happens in business when your customer is highly satisfied. I always have the mindset that it is my job to get my sponsor promoted. If I make my customers successful, they will value our partnership and we can grow with them. A profitable yet dissatisfied customer is an attrition time bomb and profit will be transient; without partnership, it’s just a future regret. – Dominic Dinardo, Aforza
13. Stay Focused On Your ‘Why’
Stay focused on your core business purpose. Why are you delivering that product or service? What value does it bring to customers? By staying true to your core mission, you’ll be able to not only meet the evolving needs of your customers, but also grow your business and revenue. – Kermit S Randa
14. Think About Sustainable Profits
Sustainable profits are based on lifetime customer value. Being shortsighted today can have drastic effects tomorrow. The key is managing overhead and other costs to allow a long-term profit strategy to take hold. Retaining and growing customers is less costly than adding new business, and these customers are your best source of profit. Put customers first; the rest will follow. – Ryan Weissmueller, Fintrepid Solutions
15. Maintain Your Integrity
While keeping customers happy is important, it’s also important to maintain the integrity of your business by staying true to your original mission and values rather than making decisions solely based on what customers want or expect. Quality customer service and listening to feedback can help you build trust with customers while also maintaining profitability. – Ashley Saye, Daily Rays Inc.
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