Direct selling or Network marketing involves several aspects that contribute to effective product promotion. As it employs a customer-centric approach, companies should formulate strategies that revolve around their customers. Compared to traditional marketing where the motive was to sell the product, direct marketing emphasizes on what fulfils the customer. Product strategies, resource management, grievance handling and manpower allocation are based on tactics to satisfy the end consumer.
Representing the brand and collecting customer feedback gives a sense of assurance to consumers that their suggestions and opinions matter. Eventually, monitoring customer feedback and filling the gaps contributes to increase in goodwill for the brand. As most direct selling organizations are moving operations online due to the prevalent effect of the Coronavirus, consumers are able to resonate with brands that have positive reviews and client testimonials. This gives a sense of comfort and guarantee to people who are switching brands based on their convenience. Irrespective of the nature of the feedback, organizations need to allocate resources that enable them to understand current buying trends. Participating in online product forums and addressing customer feedback helps future business referrals and increases the credibility of the organization.
Collecting and evaluating consumer feedback can give organizations an idea of market trends and adapt to proactive marketing plans. Valuing customer feedback assists direct sellers to understand consumer buying behaviour and increases the credibility of the company. Below are some reasons why feedback from customers increases the overall value of the company in terms of brand value, recognition and awareness.
Accept Positive Criticism to Develop Your Product: Positive criticism should always be welcomed. Be it any product or a service, customer feedback is a way to understand product defects and eventually work on them. An organization would have analysed and tested their product a million times. However, the focus here is not on the end consumer. Learn to accept any constructive criticism about the product. This gives you the opportunity to innovate and work on what’s missing.
Feedback and Concern Acknowledgement: Direct sellers should be able to acknowledge customer complaints or feedback. Suggestions can help sellers perceive buying behaviour and empathize with the customer. This makes your consumer more inclusive in the process, which impacts brand loyalty. Proactively following up with potential customers can help organizations retain them for future business referrals. On the other hand, allowing the customer to make a statement about the product or the service is a great way to avoid unnecessary conflict. Therefore, feedback in any form is crucial and impacts the overall progress of a company.
Recommendations and Testimonials: Customer testimonials are immensely important for brand awareness. Frequent positive feedback from consumers can lead to recommendations for potential business prospects. Positive feedback can also encourage individual direct sellers to strive for more and eventually broaden their network. Rolling out surveys to your potential customers can help evaluate their perception towards any product and work on missing gaps.
Repetitive Purchase Orders are Likely: Positive or negative feedback from customers must be taken seriously. Working on feedback is a great way to value the customer and their interests. As direct selling involves meeting customers and creating personal connections, evaluating feedback and providing suggestions become that much easier. Also, if a trend of positive feedback continues, customers are more likely to return for more.
Impact of Online Feedback: Before collecting feedback, Direct Selling companies should have a social presence and design an official website. Once the feedback is collected, make it a point to add them on the testimonial page. This boosts peer confidence and enables companies to reach out to new customers. With creating a strong presence on platforms like Facebook and Linkedin, your downlines can find it accessible to connect and expand their network. As distributors work with a chain of direct sellers, organizations can coordinate and provide personalized buying experiences for potential clients. Online customer feedback is also important because it makes your brand more visible and increases website traffic. With a customer centric approach, organizations can rely on their customers who can spread the word around. This eventually expands your reach and helps you focus on multiple product deliverables.
As mentioned above, analysing and interpreting customer feedback is crucial in order to gain customer loyalty and spread brand awareness. To conclude, by valuing suggestions and complaints from customers, irrespective of their nature, direct sellers can propel their career to a whole new level.
