7 Steps To Building Better Relationships With Your Customers

 

If there’s a group of people who should matter the most to you as a business owner, it’s your customers. They’re the ones spending their hard-earned money with you and helping you to keep your doors open, even through the ups and downs.

What will help you out over the long-term is to focus on building better relationships with your customers and making sure you’re meeting their needs. Accept that it’ll be a little extra work on your part, but that by you doing so you can feel more confident that your business will develop and grow as the year’s progress on.

 

  • Gather & Listen to Their Feedback

 

Your first step to building better relationships with your customers is to gather and listen to their feedback. Instead of guessing about what they want or how you’re doing, be proactive and ask them. You can accomplish this goal by sending out surveys or picking up the phone and having a conversation. Not only collect this information, but then be prepared to take action with it and improve your business based on what they’re telling you. Your willingness to listen will boost the customer’s confidence in you that you’re a reputable and caring company. Everyone on both ends will be a lot happier when you’re all on the same page, and there isn’t any confusion about what they want versus what you’re delivering.

 

  • Go & Meet with Them

 

Build better relationships with your customers by going out and meeting with them individually. Schedule client meetings where you can travel to them and go over what new products or services you’re rolling out and listen to what advice they have for you. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to travel much, then make sure you’re planning ahead and are organized before you depart. For instance, you can use this service for your transportation needs so you have a comfortable and stylish ride to get you around town. These face-to-face encounters will be very beneficial for you and your business and is a great way to nurture your client relationships.

 

  • Be Responsive

 

If there’s one area of business where you don’t want to slack or get off track, it’s with your response time. Your customer relationships will grow stronger and be better when you and your staff are always responsive and come to the table presenting solutions to problems. Return phone calls, emails and respond to social media comments promptly so that your customers know you’re listening and that their voice matters. These types of interactions will set you and your team members up for success, and your customers will be more inclined to want to work with you. The faster you can get back to clients, the more likely they’ll be to want to give you their business again in the future.

 

  • Communicate Clearly & Often

 

Open, honest and clear communication is essential when you own a business and have customers who are depending on you to meet their needs. Not only get your message across concisely, but also make sure you’re conversing with them on a regular basis and not disappearing for days at a time. You can accomplish this goal by launching email campaigns, using online advertising and engaging on social media. The last situation you want is your customers to be in the dark about important changes happening or sales and promotions that you have going on. It’s your job to relay messages in a timely manner and make sure the appropriate people are being looped in on matters that pertain to them.

 

  • Show Your Appreciation

 

Ultimately, customers want to feel appreciated and valued at the end of the day. Show you care by sending out greeting or thank you cards, verbally expressing your gratitude and hosting customer appreciation events. Never take their business for granted or you may find that you start to lose customers. Confirm that those who are spending money with you are being recognized and thanked appropriately. Remember that you can never say thank you enough and that people want to work with companies that are good about acknowledging and celebrating their customers.

 

  • Improve & Develop Your Customer Service Department

 

Build better relationships with your clients by improving and developing your customer service department. This includes training your employees and coming up with policies and procedures they can follow, so you’re always consistent in your ways. It’s not acceptable to let important matters go ignored or unattended to, so make sure someone’s in charge of monitoring that the inquiries that come in are being addressed. Confirm that your staff knows how to appropriately speak to customers and handle frustrating situations so that they don’t quickly get out of hand. Spend time practicing and strengthening your team’s customer service skills so you have more successful interactions.

 

  • Deliver on Your Promise

 

You’ll be able to build trust and better relationships with your customers when you can deliver on your promise. This means not cutting corners and making sure your clients are receiving what they paid for in a timely manner. Not only meet their expectations, but try to exceed them whenever possible so you can gain more loyal customers over time. Be consistent and practice regular follow up so you aren’t left in the dark about anything that may be going on with your customers and your products or services. Most importantly, be honest if you encounter any issues and communicate status updates, so no one’s ever left in the dark.

These are a few promising ways you can build better relationships with your customers so you can grow your business. Follow through with these tips, and you’ll likely see your company take a turn for the better and your customer satisfaction scores increase. Remain patient because these types of changes take time before you’ll begin to reap the rewards. Make your customers a priority and you won’t have a whole lot to worry about as your business expands and matures.

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