Communication is a key factor to building a good relationship. Businesses can benefit from engaging more with their customers and talking to them about their business instead of just using promotional material.
Why are Customer Relationships Important?
Customer relationships are important for any business that wants to maintain longevity. When customers trust and feel connected to a brand they are more likely to recommend the business to others which helps to grow the client base. Loyal customers create consistent purchasing which leads to increased revenue.
How to Build Better Client Relationships
Studies show that customers tend to be loyal to brands that make them feel appreciated and cared for. Below are 4 ways in which a business can strengthen its relationships with its clients.
1. Invest in customer service
Poor customer service can ruin a business’s reputation. The smart move is to invest in customer service training and tools that will help a business exceed customer expectations. Call centers spend a lot of money on giving their employees training on proper telephone etiquette. Customers can be difficult at times and employees need to know how to engage while remaining calm. It’s also a good idea to ensure that employees know how to manage conflict to avoid escalating a bad situation.
Another key point of great customer service is to be proactive. This means constantly evaluating processes in order to find areas of improvement. Feedback from customers is a great way to know where the business is going wrong, but also what the business is doing right.
There are plenty of software applications on the market to help collect and analyze data to assist businesses in improving their customer service.
2. Create additional value
As a business it is crucial to understand the needs of the customer. Listen to customer feedback and look for opportunities to improve their experience. An example of added value is to provide a customer with 1 year free tech support when they purchase a new computer. The client will see the purchase as a good deal and the business will have kept the communication channels with the customer open in terms of support.
Another example of value add is to provide customers with a discount coupon on their birthdays. Not only does the customer feel important, but it also encourages them to engage with the business.
Value add thus provides an incentive for customers to purchase a product or service. It can also be what distinguishes one business from another.
3. Adapt to the customer
Research has shown that mimicking behavior can lead to feelings of closeness, empathy and understanding. This does not mean that you have to say and do everything your customer does, but rather that businesses need to learn to speak their customer languages.
For example, when a customer likes to keep responses short, they might not appreciate long and drawn out answers. Maybe a customer prefers an in person meeting instead of a virtual meeting.
This takes a lot of practice, but can also be achieved through customer service training. Every person is different, but learning to read your customer can go a long way to building a close relationship.
4. Build a clear brand
Brand awareness is key to building customer relationships. When customers look for a specific product or service, you want them to think about your business first. There are many ways in which a brand can increase its recognition and awareness.
One of the methods a lot of businesses use is through vanity phone numbers. A vanity number is created by arranging numbers in a specific sequence to spell out a unique and memorable word like 1-800-FLOWERS. A vanity number can be purchased from various service providers and can increase a brand’s customer base.
Social media is a great way to create brand awareness by engaging with customers through video or written content. Most of the popular social media platforms have call to action features for businesses which can drive a lot of traffic to a website and increase purchasing.
Not only has social media made it easy to communicate and engage with customers, it has also enabled brands to reach audiences from across the world.
