Creating strong connections with your customers is key to any successful business. Afterall, without your customers you don’t really have a business. We all know that creating relationships with your customers is important, but we don’t all know how to do that. It can be tricky to ensure you are keeping your customers on your side. Luckily, we’ve done our research and have some tips that will help any business hang on to those customers by building relationships!
Engagement & Relationship Building
People love working with those they have positive relationships with. When you are working with customers, make sure to be friendly and focus on building a relationship with them. Building their trust by being honest and open about the work being completed is a great first step. From there, don’t be afraid to joke around and let your personality show! When they feel comfortable with you, they will be much more likely to return to your business. Once you have established that initial friendship, you should keep it by engaging with your customers. Sending out emails or text messages about upcoming deals, changes to the business, updates, or greetings will keep that relationship strong. Don’t let your customer leave for a competitor!
Storing & Using Data
Keeping track of your customer data is a great way to ensure you’re building that relationship that is so essential to business growth. When you store your customer and transaction data, you have a background of jobs and services that were completed for them, so you don’t feel out of the loop when they reach out to you again. Another reason to store this data is for engaging with your customers. It’s impossible to reach out to your customers when you don’t have their phone number or email address on hand. Storing this data is the first step, using it to your advantage is the cherry on top!
Streamlined Processes
If you are in the service industry, and you have other employees working with/for you, it’s important to have all of your processes streamlined. People can become frustrated and easily lose trust in your business when they feel like things are inconsistent and it may make them feel that the service is unreliable.
It’s important to keep your customers happy, as you know. The easiest way to do that is to create a connection with them that keeps them coming back time and time again!
For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, subscribe to the FreshLime Newsletter here. Connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. And last of all, if any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!