Customer relations has been an essential enterprise that has strengthened or weakened the foundations of businesses for time immemorial. Earning a customer’s long-term loyalty is the key to a thriving enterprise. Research shows that the sales and marketing efforts you make to earn new customer’s costs more than it does to retain existing customers
Beyond creating a great product, service or brand, customers seek an emotional and unique experience that is both meaningful to them, and is also a differentiating factor of your business from your competitors. Here are a few tips on how to build a solid customer base and lasting customer relations:
Demonstrate authentic concern: your customers are people and everyone wants to feel important. In business, the client is king and as such, their concern should be your priority. Research shows that customizing your responses and the way you communicate with them make your customers feel seen and heard. As a result of this, you may build trust in a relationship and a solid connection which may be valuable to retain your customers.
Actively listen to customers: It is important to respond quickly to customers, but in responding to customers, you must make the effort to listen very well to what they are saying. Again, the goal is to make the customer feel as important as they are to you. Cutting them in the middle of a sentence or misunderstanding what they are saying will lead to a sense of unappreciation or unimportance; and we do not want our customers to feel unimportant.
Streamline the process: Instead of having a stringent process that applies to all customers, streamline your process. By streamlining, you find the best ways to meet each client’s unique needs without making them feel like a bother to you. You could formulate a policy within the business to guide you on where your limits will be. Beyond that, you should offer some flexibility to your clients, without compromising on your business values and value proposition. By this, your customers will always feel at home with you.
Collect and use feedback: Your clients are the most authentic source of assessment your business would ever need. Always remember to ask your customers for feedback. This could be as simple as sending an email survey after they receive their order/ product/service. Keep it short and sweet, to encourage more of them to fill out quickly and even on their phones. From all the feedback you receive, generate some action points to keep you focused on improvement. Being responsive to the feedback your customers give will make you a better service provider. You may not always see things the way clients do; feedback gives you the chance to peer into the lens of your customers.
For the businesses that are struggling to retain and satisfy customers, these four tips may be an answered prayer. Beyond this, you may have some answers that may be useful. Do share your knowledge on customer satisfaction and retention with us on our digital community platforms, hrfocusuniverse.com, and any of our social media platforms, @HRFocusU.
Ewurabena Neequaye
Editor-In-Chief,
HR Focus Africa
