Set Your Goals Around Your Customers' Needs

Many businesses focus on the bottom line when they set their goals for the year. The amount of profits they want to earn, or the amount of new customers they want to draw to their business. While these are all clear, measurable goals, they miss a key component of customer service.

Your goals may not be the customers' goals. Your customers may never know how much money that their purchases really earn you. They will not know that they are included in the statistics of your PowerPoint graphs at the third quarter sales meeting.

The customers will only be aware of the experiences they have when purchasing and using your products. Very rarely will any additional concerns come to their minds.

How should you include your customer service needs into your yearly goals? Here are some ways to make the customers' goals your goals.

• Include increased customer satisfaction as one of your goals. Set a percentage you would like to strive for. Arrive at a base number, by sending out surveys to your customers, and let them rate your services on a scale of 1 to 10. Then send out the same questions at the end of the year.
  
• Allocate a higher percentage of your budget to increasing the quality of the services your customers did not rate very highly. The more time and energy you devote to what your customers ask for, the better your customer service quality will be.
• Spend time retaining your existing clients. While a business will surely grow by attracting new customers, it will flourish when it provides existing, loyal customers with the ultimate care. The increase in word-of-mouth advertising that your customers will provide will make these efforts worthwhile as well.

Have you set your business goals to include your customers' needs? What has worked for you, and what has not? Share your experiences here.