How can you measure the ease of doing business with your IT company? This is a crucial question for IT sales professionals, as it can affect your customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and referrals. In this article, you will learn what ease of doing business (EoDB) means, why it matters, how to assess it, and how to improve it.
EoDB is the degree to which your customers find it simple, convenient, and enjoyable to interact with your IT company throughout the sales cycle and beyond. It covers aspects such as your communication, responsiveness, transparency, flexibility, reliability, and value proposition. EoDB is not just a one-time impression, but a cumulative experience that shapes your customer's perception of your IT company.
EoDB really is a metric (index) about how good the regulations for businesses and stronger protections for property rights exist on a market/society. Higher rankings (a low numerical value) are preferred
EoDB matters because it can influence your customer's decision-making, satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. Customers who find it easy to do business with you are more likely to buy from you, repeat purchases, recommend you to others, and give you positive feedback. On the other hand, customers who find it hard to do business with you are more likely to switch to competitors, complain, and damage your reputation. EoDB can also affect your internal efficiency, productivity, and profitability.
Assessing EoDB can be done in various ways, depending on your goals, resources, and data availability. For instance, customer surveys can be employed to rate your IT company's EoDB on a scale of 1 to 10 or to answer questions about their pain points. Additionally, customer feedback from reviews, testimonials, social media, emails, and calls can be analyzed for patterns that indicate a customer's level of EoDB. Furthermore, customer metrics such as CSAT, NPS, CES, CRR, and CLV can be monitored to measure and track the EoDB.
For a successful improvement in EoDB, a holistic and continuous approach is needed that involves your entire IT company. To start, align your IT company's vision, mission, values, and culture with customer needs. Streamline processes, systems, and policies to make them more customer-centric and efficient. Train and empower staff to communicate clearly and effectively with customers. Anticipate customer issues and resolve them proactively and promptly. Personalize solutions, offers, and interactions to suit customer context, preferences, and expectations. Consistently deliver on promises, standards, and outcomes. Finally, seek customer feedback regularly and act on it sincerely.
Showcasing EoDB is a great way to demonstrate your IT company's value proposition, differentiate yourself from competitors, and attract and retain customers. For instance, you can create customer success stories and case studies that highlight your EoDB, develop customer loyalty programs that reward customers for their loyalty, and design customer engagement campaigns that reinforce and enhance your EoDB. Additionally, leveraging and optimizing your IT company's online presence can help you convey and amplify your EoDB. Ultimately, measuring, improving, and showcasing your EoDB can build trust with customers and boost your IT sales results.