The relationship you have with your customers is essential in helping your business flourish and develop, and if you don’t make a strong connection with your consumer base, you’re likely to end up moving backward rather than forwards. In fact, according to a Walker study, it’s estimated that by 2020, “customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator”. Read on to find out how you can improve your customers’ experience, and build a relationship with your audience.
Train Your Team
It’s important that if customers have a problem or want to communicate something, they can speak to people rather than machines so that your business appears more personal and available to your audience, and this means you need a team in place to answer their queries or issues. This team needs to be taught the right and wrong ways to communicate with customers – basics like being polite and direct at all times, but also having empathy and a thick skin (customers can be tricky at times). It’s also important to make sure your team is up to date and knowledgeable of the service or product you’re providing so that they can answer any questions or address any concerns without bumbling around or putting people on hold, not only quickening the process for you, but keeping your customers happy, too.
Use Transactional Emails
Transactional emails are one of the key ways you can communicate to your consumer base, and are essential in drawing in potential customers. By using an SMTP server, you can send emails automatically to serve specific functions such as confirmation emails, notifications, password resets and more. Their instant nature means you can keep your customers engaged without making them wait and risk losing their attention, and ultimately keep customers visiting your business.
Look for a reliable SMTP service provider – companies like Sendinblue are ideal for those looking for a reliable and trustworthy service, and they offer you the ability to understand the deliverability and performance in real time of any transactional emails sent out, as well as other features like implementing your own design and personalizing emails. They’re perfect for optimizing your website and customer communication, keeping your customers up to date and involved, and giving you feedback on what works best for you, too.
Also, make sure any emails (transactional or otherwise) you send to clients look professional and smart – even simple things like getting the font right can be tricky, so make sure to take your time and really improve the look so that you don’t put any potential buyers off.
Take Things One Step Further
Every business should fit the basic requirements – delivering a product or service that you offer is expected, so how do you stand out from the crowd? You throw something into the deal they don’t expect that makes them go “Wow!”, without asking for anything extra. This doesn’t even have to have any significant financial cost – it could be a simple “Thank you” note! Investing a little in making your customers feel good isn’t a bad idea either, though – a free trial is a strong favorite with many companies, as is a reward scheme, and even going as far as holding events or sending repeat customers thank you gifts is a great way to not only improve your relationship with any customers you attract, but it can also boost the likelihood of your business being recommended and talked about, thus expanding your consumer base and helping your business grow.
Communication is Key
Communicating with your customers, whether they’re regulars or new to your business, is incredibly important in order for your business to grow. This means being honest and transparent with your customers – be clear about where you are at with your customer’s order or query, be quick and timely with answers or responses, and don’t hide things unnecessarily – this all helps to improve the loyalty your customers will have in your business, and it makes them more likely to choose you over another competitor.
Even opting to give your consumers an “inside look” or “behind the scenes” look of your business is another excellent option, not only to build trust, but to help your customers feel included and part of your company and its journey. Communication isn’t just speaking, though – it’s important to listen to your audience, too. If there are any issues reported to you, don’t dismiss them – instead, find a way to tackle them and change things to optimize your customers’ experience – they’ll certainly be grateful. If feedback is a little slow, then there’s nothing wrong with asking for it – sending out surveys, or a simple question at the end of a purchase or interaction is all you need to get some much-needed feedback and alter things to suit your customers’ needs.
With the right customer relationships, your business will be well on its way to expanding and heading in the right direction.