Connecting With Your Customers: Building Lasting Relationships For Business Success
Whether you on the pathway to starting a business, or you've been involved in running your own empire for several years, you likely know how important customers are to your ongoing success. Satisfied customers are the very lifeblood of any business, and it's through making connections and building relationships with them that will ensure continued growth and prosperity.
Winning people over with your wit, charm, and superior products is one thing, but in this day and age of almost instant internet gratification, there is a fierce competition going on between you and other business owners who offer very similar products and services. Quite often, the only thing that will inspire a customer to build loyalty to you is your efforts to connect personally and develop relationships. How can you do that amidst the hundreds of other tasks on your plate----marketing, staffing, keeping track of inventory, building a brand---it can all seem like too much to handle. Customer relationships often get put on the back burner. Ultimately, this failure leads to the shutdown of almost fifty percent of all businesses less than five years old. If you want to stand out, it's time to connect. Here are some easy ways to incorporate connection and invest in your relationships for the long haul:
Don't assume that "one size fits all." A customer who feels heard, valued, and respected will stay with you far longer than someone who feels like a number, a conquest. Finding out what your customers' unique needs are, and then seeking to deliver the best personalized experience possible will make them feel special. Adding that personal touch that communicates appreciation of their business will do wonders for your email list…..and your sales quota.
Respond to customer inquiries and concerns. Don't be a fair-weather friend; prove to them that you will do what it takes to satisfy your customers, and they will be much more likely to return to you time and time again. One bad social media review citing lackadaisical customer service might cost you hundreds of potential customers, and bad news travels fast. Respond to concerns and suggestions for improvement without taking it personally; when you take yourself out of the equation and make the customer your number one concern, you'll rise straight to the top of the list.
Let's get a little personal. Building relationships one at a time and focusing on finding out some personal information about your customers will help you cater more effectively to their needs and desires. Taking the time to carve out a customer loyalty program or adding personal emails and calls to follow up on order satisfaction will be taking customer service to the next level. Approach people for the sake of building relationships, not making sales---pushy salespeople can be smelled a mile away. Be real, get real, and you'll see some real prosperity come from these relationships.
Create an opportunity for face to face interactions. Whether it's with vendors, clients, or customers, nothing beats in-person interactions. In today's day of increasing dependence on technology's convenience, going the extra mile to prioritize face-to-face meetings is seen as a master move. The foundation of all stable relationships is some face time; see what you can do to make this a part of your outreach and watch how your network grows.
Take your current clients with you. Those precious few that were with you from the very beginning are every bit as important as customer 1000, who you recently acquired from a Facebook marketing campaign. Don't leave your oldest customers in the dust; take them with you and continue to build those relationships, for you never know what kind of word-of-mouth advertising they continue to do for family and friends. You may see some of these special relationships becoming your most profitable amidst exponential growth.
Show regular appreciation. You'd do it with friends and loved ones; showing appreciation for your customers communicates that you want them to stay with you. You are indicating that their presence in your business network is essential and that you intend to do whatever you need to keep them happy. Creating a customer loyalty program, offering tutorials and additional information on products and services, as well as discounts for high volume customers makes people feel valued. These customers will be much more likely to return to you for not only your superior products but the way you make them feel like part of your organization.
Want to create some new and exciting relationships today? Try us!
Networking is a vital part of good business; customers, clients, and other entrepreneurs make up your network, and quite often, it's who you know rather than what you know that will help you and your organization grow. At MaxGroup Business Solutions, we are a group of dedicated professionals who understand business. We know marketing, outreach, and relationship building like no other firm. We will give you step by step assistance that will help you build the kind of customer relationships that strengthen your organization. What are you waiting for? Contact us today for richer relationships and explosive business growth. Visit www.maxgroupbusiness.com for more information.