5 ways enhancing product quality will win customer loyalty

Having a healthy customer base is very important in ensuring the success of any business. Nevertheless, while acquiring new customers should be a continuous endeavor, any successful entrepreneur will tell you that having loyal, repeat customers is far cheaper.

Businesses spend more on converting new customers than they do on existing ones. This only means that winning customer loyalty is nothing to take lightly.

That being said, there are several factors that influence customer loyalty. A customer needs to trust a brand and its product in order to choose to spend more money now and in the future.

Even as you work on building a strong brand, enhancing product quality plays a huge part in breeding repeat customers. Here is how:

1. Increased efficiency reduces customer complaints

Customers not only require a product to get the job done but also to do so efficiently. They want quick results with minimal effort from their side. If your products don’t cut in terms of expected efficiency, you are likely to get bad reviews and increased customer complaints. This could also mean the last time such dissatisfied customers buy from you.

When you enhance product quality, you are improving on its efficiency. Consequently, the increased efficiency leaves the customers satisfied and with fewer or no complaints. You can be sure to easily win the loyalty of your customers when they are happy and satisfied with what you are offering.

Another key point here is to listen to your customers’ feedback and pay attention to what they are saying, whether they have complaints or what they liked most about your products/services. Knowledge base software is one of the tools out there that can help you enhance your customer services.

2. Transparency in ethical audit enhances brand image

The modern customer no longer buys products, but brands. Consumers want to buy from brands that they can connect with, those that conduct business in alignment with their personal beliefs.

However, not many people believe that brands behave ethically or are committed to helping improve society. One of the ways that you can prove that your brand is ethical is by engaging in ethical audit programs such as ethical sourcing audit and being transparent about it to your customers. Ethical sourcing audit is one way of enhancing product quality.

Regular audits on your supply chain ensure that your sources observe high standards of hygiene, especially in food-related products. It also eliminates the chances of using substandard materials, unqualified labor, or outsourcing to substandard companies in manufacturing your products.

In addition, it ensures that they don’t engage in unethical practices such as using poor waste management, unfair labor practices, and hiring child labor among others.

When you are transparent about mitigating such things, your customers carry your brand in high esteem. Seeing your sources committed in manufacturing quality products as well as being socially accountable will win them over to you.

3. Continuous innovation builds customer relationships

Not many people build a perfect product on the first try. There will be areas where it would need improvements. How you will know where to improve your product is through recommendations and reviews from your customers.

When you implement your customers’ recommendations in improving your products, you are proving to them that you listen and value their input.

The willingness to continue being innovative and improve the product to their satisfaction shows that you are relatable. Listening to your customers as you improve your product builds stronger relationships with them, influencing loyalty while at it.

4. Appealing aesthetics sets you apart

The modern consumer cares about product aesthetics such as how it looks, smells, feels, tastes and sounds. They are likely to incline to the brand that pays attention to details when it comes to this.

When improving your products, enhancing the aesthetics such as having customizable features makes all the difference. It sets you apart from the rest, making you their brand of choice. Continually doing so ensures that they continually choose you.

5. Product satisfaction increases referrals

Customers who come to you through referrals are easy to win over and convert to loyal customers. This is because most people trust a product that has been recommended by people they know. When they come to you, they already know that the product works through other people, which makes it easy to make a buying decision.

Product enhancement is a plus to your existing customers who already trust your brand. You can be sure that these repeat customers will become better advocates for your products when the products are better, improved, and exceeds expectations. Consequently, the leads you get through such referrals quickly become repeat customers as well.

Winning customer loyalty isn’t always easy. Nevertheless, the work becomes easier when the quality of your products is top-notch. Your customers are easily satisfied when there is increased efficiency and appealing aesthetics. In addition, they see your care when you listen to their thoughts and trust your brand when you assure them of ethical sources. And when they trust your brand, they get the word about your business out there.

3 keys to product manufacturing for startups

So, you’ve created an innovative concept, one that fills a niche in the market, and are ready to take it to the next level. We’re here with some advice for getting your product manufactured and into the hands of your customers as efficiently as possible.

I’ve led new product development for local companies for 15+ years and work with clients every day to bring brilliant consumer products to market. Our team has partnered with dozens of start-ups navigating the pitfalls of manufacturing, and even help established companies who’ve developed multiple products and know the ropes become more agile and proficient.

Your team, and the investments you make in the process, will play an integral part in your success or failure as a company.

Below are three tips for getting your idea from the prototype stage to a finished product.

Ensure your design is optimized for manufacturing

Design for Manufacturability (DFM) cannot happen soon enough in the product development process. Very early on, you should envision where you want your product to be mass produced, and what type of manufacturing processes you want to use, with target costs of goods sold.

Most companies get all the way through prototyping and testing before they task their designers to make each component easy and cost effective to manufacture.

The mistake here is waiting too long, and DFM changes end up being band-aids on a flawed architecture.

Teach your industrial designers to think about how the parts will be made and incorporate those strategies in the sketch phase. We also advise having your designers and engineers tear down and rebuild the production prototype over and over to ensure the design has been optimized for assembly.

Documentation and addressing those assembly pain points will lead to less scrap later down the road.

Invest in a good supply chain manager

There are dozens of individual components that make up a product’s “bill of materials” (BOM), and many will come from different sources, which is why investing in a good supply chain manager is key. A savvy supply chain expert will connect your team with the right manufacturers and can help navigate potential hiccups or delays in the process.

Your supply chain manager will act as an advocate for your product and someone who thinks ahead and is capable of sourcing supplier back-ups for each component production the BOM, in the case certain suppliers falls through. They will also be informed on tariffs, shortages of raw materials, geopolitical supply chain issues, and lead times due to COVID-19 or other potential shipping delays (i.e. Chinese New Year, if you are manufacturing oversees).

A good supply chain manager will also look after quality control, assuring your production partners are continuously making a good component to your specifications.

Time is money and choosing a reliable, dedicated supply chain manager will save you big-time in the long run. Going at this on your own is overwhelming and tedious, and your time is better spent marketing and securing orders and customers.

Choose a strong supply chain

Trusting your suppliers is also a major component to the manufacturing process and building a strong supply chain will be significant to your outcome. Due diligence is key here. Interview suppliers like you would an employee and ask for references.

Will they deliver on time, and be financially accountable for delays? Will they stand behind their quality? What is their communication process? Do they have a dedicated project manager? Weekly manufacturing meeting?

In addition, if feasible, check out their shop floor. Is it clean and tidy? It will likely reflect the attitude they have for their customers, qualify and communication. The old adage that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link couldn’t be more applicable here.

Your product needs 100% of its individual parts to be ready to deliver to your customers, and one delayed or faulty part can ruin a timely product launch and lead to disappointed consumers.

Having a complete and masterful team throughout the entire manufacturing journey will be the foundation and greatest asset in bringing your product (and successive products) to life. Your company will greatly benefit from building these strong relationships out of the gate to enhance your entrepreneurial journey and path to success.

Marc Hanchak is the founder of Denver-based LINK Product Development.