You read the title right. Customer satisfaction can increase sales, but a great sales strategy can also improve customer satisfaction. It’s a two way street. 

In order for the above to hold true, you need to truly know your customers. When you really understand who your target market is, you are better able to cater to their needs and wants. 

If you understand how and why your product or service adds value to clients, selling won’t feel like selling. This will improve customer satisfaction because, at the end of the day, there is no better sales strategy than providing customers with the exact solution they need. 

This is the ultimate way to keep your customers happy: by providing them with something that is useful and valuable to them. If you fail to do this, your business will likely fail too. 

Here’s an example: 

Imagine you are a waiter at a high-end restaurant and the guests at your table order a mid-range priced plate. By asking them what they like and dislike, what type of food they’re looking for, and what drinks they want before you place the order, you might be able to convince them to order something different - sometimes even pricier. If you’re able to understand their likes and dislikes, chances are their satisfaction with their order will be higher than if you had gone ahead and placed the original order. 

In this particular example, when done right, customers won’t feel as if you are trying to sell them the most expensive dish for the sake of making more money. Instead, they will feel like you did it because you truly cared about them having a meal that they would enjoy. 

So, what should you change on your sales strategy to increase customer satisfaction?

Create a Customer Persona

HubSpot defines a customer or buyer persona as a “semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.”

To create an accurate customer persona you need to include information such as age, occupation, hobbies, archetype, age, status, motivations, influences, and frustrations. 

There are two main methods to gather the information needed to create a customer persona: interviews and existing sales data. 

• Interviews

If you’re an established business, the first step you should take is to examine and analyze your existing audience. Reach out to them via phone, email, or in-person and ask them about themselves, why they chose your brand, why they like your product or service, what are some things they would like you to change or improve, etc. After a few interviews, you might be able to identify some trends. 

• Existing Sales Data

Another method to define a customer persona is to look at your existing sales data, specifically your CRM data. Your lead capturing strategy should include a form that asks a broad set of questions: age, size of the company they work for, industry, job title, how they found you, etc. 

This data can also help you identify certain patterns and commonalities. You can then use this information to create a first draft of your customer persona. 

Pro tip: If you haven’t yet launched a product or company, one way to obtain valuable information is to create a landing page advertising your product or service. The landing page should include a form that people need to fill out so that they can receive a notification when your product launches. That form will give you the information you need to build an initial buying persona.

Understand Your Customers

Building your customer persona takes time and effort, but it is a crucial element to any successful marketing and sales strategies. The number one reason why you should create a buyer persona is because it helps you really understand your target market. 

With this knowledge, you’ll be in a great position to tailor your messages to your buyer’s needs, as opposed to simply showing what the company does and offers. This drives sales because it helps build trust and loyalty. Consumers today buy from brands that they trust, brands that they feel care about them. 

At the same time, a buyer persona can help improve your customer satisfaction. If you truly understand the pain points, likes, and dislikes of your target market, not only will you be able to pitch to them more efficiently, but you will also be able to provide them with a service and experience that they enjoy. 

For example, some prospects prefer chatbots to customer service representatives, others hate talking to robots and would rather speak with a salesperson directly. These might seem like unimportant things, but they are things that can keep a customer loyal or make them turn away to another brand. 

Final Thoughts

A good sales strategy leads to customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction leads to sales. In either case, the key to success is to truly know your target market. Otherwise, your sales strategy will fail and your customer service won’t be great. 

Building a buyer persona can help you adapt key aspects of your product, service, and overall business strategy; it can also help you better understand the decision-making process of customers.  

One last piece of advice: People’s wants and needs are constantly evolving and changing, so make sure that you revisit your customer personas and your sales strategy every year. Update relevant information, add new insights, and most importantly - pivot if needed.

About the author: Ceci Amador - Managing Editor of Allwork.Space and Content Specialist at AllianceVirtualOffices.com - is based from wherever her laptop is. She enjoys traveling and visiting new flexible workspaces. If you'd like Ceci to check out your workspace, feel free to reach out to her (and send a plane ticket).