Customer communication is a complex topic that involves many moving parts. The whole point of customer communication is to retain your customers. After all, “If you don’t acquire and retain customers, you won’t survive.” Customer communication envelops everything from what channels you choose to use to contact your customers to the targeting and data you follow to personalize your interactions. The keys to powerful customer communication are:

1. Sending engagements that provide clients with additional value from your business
2. Understanding how to communicate with loyal customers in a way that will make them love your company’s products and/or services even more. 
3. Knowing your business data enough to personalize your customer communications to create stronger relationships. 

In order to interact effectively with customers, your business needs strong customer communication skills.

How Can You Strengthen Your Customer Communication Skills?

1. Proactively Reach Out to Customers: In order to increase customer loyalty, retention and overall satisfaction, your business should be reaching out to customers proactively. In other words, your customers shouldn’t have to search for your business name/contact information each time they need a service from you. Why? Because this will likely lead them to a competitor, simply because they haven’t stayed in touch with you. Proactively reaching out to your customers shows them that you care to keep them up-to-date and informed about your industry and any specials that your business might be running. Building trust and strong relationships with your customers is done, almost entirely, through customer communication. 
2. Know Your Customers: Keeping track of your customers’ transactions and buying habits ensures that you can engage with them about the products or services that pertain to their needs. Knowing when your customers are due for another carpet cleaning, carwash or HVAC tune-up is what will set you apart from the competition. Sending out reminders to your customers is convenient for them, and drives them to set up new appointments with your business. 
3. Understand the Needs of Your Customers: It isn’t beneficial to send your customers tips about services that aren’t relevant to their needs. Understanding the needs of your customers is important and can only be achieved through tracking your customer data and making sense of it. Build trust with your customers by sending them helpful tips and tricks to prolong the life of the services you offer, and maybe even specials you’re running that would motivate them to schedule with you again sooner than later. Understanding the needs of your customers is a win-win. It shows customers that you care, while also setting your business apart from the rest and building a loyal customer base that will help your business thrive, even in trying times. 

The only way to make your business thrive in today’s technology-driven world is to regularly engage with your customers, through targeted and automated communication. Remember, if you don’t check in, your customers won’t check out. If you aren’t sure where to begin, or if you just need some help to strengthen your customer communications, let us show you what FreshLime can do for you. 

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!