It will be no exaggeration to say that customer perception can make or break a brand. As simple as it may sound, it is a fact. A customer who has had a good experience with your product will develop a positive opinion about your organization. While on the other hand, if the customer has had a bad experience like receiving a defective product or a delayed delivery, that develops a negative perception. This is why businesses with a sound customer support service are likely to grow and enjoy better brand recognition. If you read more here about the effective customer support strategies of big names like Cox, for instance, you can have an idea of how it helps to make the brand popular and win the trust of customers. This is what makes a business successful.
If we look more into the term customer perception, it reflects on how a customer gathers information about a product or service and builds an image about it in his head. Now, this can be the result of advertisements, social media engagement, customer support team, promotions, customer feedback, etc. All this helps develop a reputation and perception of your brand in the minds of potential users. Thus every action your marketing and customer support department takes, adds to developing an opinion in the minds of the customers regarding your product.
Significance of Customer Perception
A satisfied customer is among the utmost goals of all growing businesses. The companies strive to work towards strengthening the bond of trust with their customers. This is an area that gives a strong edge in the ever-growing competition in the market. This is why nowadays companies are going the extra mile to foster a pleasant customer perception that in turn a strong brand awareness. It helps develop the right brand image that is required.
Here is a quick example of how it might work and the little aspects involved. For instance, if you own a clothing store and do not display or arrange the clothes properly, chances are that you might not be able to grab the attention of the customers. The same clothes placed on nice hangers and arranged impressively will give a better impression to the customers and help develop a better perception of the brand.
The Customer Perception Process
Modern business leaders understand the role of customer perception and experience of profits and growth.
There are broadly three stages of developing the customer perception process and how it shapes the customer behavior:
Sensing
This involves physical senses to gather knowledge regarding a particular product or service.
Analysis
This step involves interpreting and analyzing all the information based on beliefs and perceptions.
Response
In this stage, the customers react based on their sensing and analysis of the interpreted information.
Connecting Emotionally with the Customers Help
Research has shown that to excel and maximizes customer satisfaction, it is important to connect to the customer on an emotional level. When targeting an audience in terms of your product or service, take a look into their fundamentals and fulfilling their deep emotional demands. Cultivating a strong bond helps promote a positive experience and a long term commitment to your product. This can also be done by listening and understanding customer needs and goals. This helps in a more directive approach towards achieving the desired business goals and improving your product or service to match the customers.
Follow Up with the customers
You can follow up with the customers to ensuring a better experience, improved product performance, and a strengthened relationship to promote customer loyalty. Making a follow-up call to get feedbacks or sale a new product can be extremely beneficial. This is because it gives a sense of belonging to the customers and help generate mutual trust with your company. Moreover, if the customer’s experience is positive, he will surely be interested in buying another product or service.
On the other hand, if the customer’s experience was negative, a follow-up call or message can help gather important information to help improve the quality of your product and lower customer churn. A simple call or email can be of great use in promoting a better customer perception and in turn making your business prosper.
Competitive Edge
Positive customer perception is the key to earning a competitive advantage over your opponents. With the rising competition in the market, every brand has something to offer to potential customers. You must highlight what is it that makes your brand stand out from the rest. A strong marketing campaign and a robust customer support department are the driving elements towards generating a good customer experience.
Helps Improve Sales
Your customer base can be your biggest brand advocates. Every customer who has had a positive experience while using your product or service helps promote a positive image of your brand through strong feedback and word of mouth. Social media platforms can be used to capture positive feedback as a result of a positive customer experience. This is one of the fastest yet inexpensive ways to build brand awareness. The greater the awareness, the more the sales. Thus a good customer experience results in greater sales and profits for any business. Customers always perceive your brand based on the advertisements, product quality, social media campaigns, or customer support services. You need to know how your brand is being perceived to do any necessary improvements and develop better strategies for maximum growth in the future.
Wrapping Up
Customers perceive your brand and that is what matters to the success of a business. By improving the marketing strategies and customer support department, you can help build a more positive customer perception which in turn steers a business towards better growth in the future. A positive brand perception results in better sales, a more competitive edge, and stronger brand awareness. It leads to happy and satisfied customers with greater trust and loyalty towards your brand. After all, you need greater customer attention and retention to excel in the market.