5 Ways to Show Customers They Are Valued

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Valued Customers|5 Ways to Show Customers They Are ValuedA satisfied customer is all well and good, but if your customers do not feel as if you value them, you could be facing an uphill struggle for consistent growth. A customer who has bought from you in the past is up to 70% more likely to buy from you again, whereas new prospects may only convert at 20%. It’s not a question of whether or not you should be making your customers feel valued as, without happy customers, you do not have a business; the question is whether you are doing enough to make them feel valued. You must go beyond delivering customer service and take steps to build and nurture trusting and lasting relationships while recognizing them as individuals, not as sales.

Here are five ways you can show customers that they are valued and improve your relationship.

1. Respond to and engage with customers

We all know the frustration of trying to get in touch with a brand and waiting days or even months to get a response. You may feel that you are too busy and push them to the bottom of the list, but when you consider that customers are the lifeblood of your business, this is crazy. Whether you’re a startup with no staff or a huge corporation with thousands of employees, you can make time to reply to your customers in business hours. When you receive messages on social media, positive and negative reviews, or comments on your blog, use it as an opportunity to open up a conversation and show them the human side to the brand.

2. Establish a relationship of trust

Your customers need to have confidence in your brand, which does not happen instantly. If you are considering two products and one salesperson has bombarded you with features, benefits, and prices while the other has taken time to ask you questions about what you are looking for, which are you most likely to trust? When a customer trusts a brand, they are more likely to return to that brand in the future.

3. Try to get to know them

Brands and customers are closer than ever before, and much of this has been made possible by social media platforms. We can get to know people in a very personal way through social media interactions and digital marketing analytics, which will tell us where they are in the world, their gender and age, their interests, their profession, and even their relationship status. With this information, you can tailor not only your marketing but also your product development to reach them on a much more personal level. Find out how to use social media for market research.

4. Give your brand some humanity

Humanizing your brand is incredibly important when it comes to building positive and meaningful relationships with customers. You need to maintain yours professionalism, but allowing your brand’s personality to come through can help to deepen the brand-customer relationship. Customers will see you as more than just a money-making machine and be more inclined to engage. You can do this very effectively through social media such as sharing profiles of your team or behind the scenes photos. You could also give your product packaging a handmade, personal finish with crafted labels using letter stencils or a handwritten note of thanks.

5. Thank them

This leads on nicely to the final but crucial tip – thank you, customers, as much as possible. Whether you include thanks on a contract or invoice, on a written note with the product, in an email, or on social media, you need to make sure that you acknowledge how important your customers are to your success.

Building Better Relationships with Your Customers

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Relationships|Building Better Relationships with Your CustomersIn the modern world, relationships are more important but more complicated than ever. Social media means that we form relationships with people that we’ve never met. It means that we feel connected to our favourite celebrities and brands, even without contact. Communication is available in many different forms, and it’s easier than ever before to get in touch with people.

But it is fast-moving. Our social media feeds are changing at lightning speed, our email inboxes are filling up daily, and even though it’s easier than ever to send a message, it’s often harder to convey meaning without face to face contact and easier to be overwhelmed and miss things entirely. It’s easier than ever to talk, but it’s also easier to be misunderstood and harder to hear.

This can make it very hard for businesses. Today’s consumers expect relationships with the people that they shop with. They don’t just want to be able to make an easy purchase. They want communication, relationships, advice and responses. They want to be able to ask a question at any time of day and get an immediate reply.

For a smaller business without a large team to help, this can prove tricky. You might be wondering How Connected Are You As A Business? In this modern world connectivity is everything, and building relationships with your customers is more important than ever. Here are some ways that you can begin to improve these relationships.

Make Sure It Is Easy For Them to Get In Touch

Everyone uses social media to communicate today, right? Well, actually no. If your target market is primary people in their teens and twenties, they might, but even then, chances are they are using newer platforms like TikTok instead of good old Facebook. If your customers are older, they might still prefer to speak to you over the phone. Every now and then you may even receive a letter.

It’s impossible to know how people prefer to communicate. You can do your research, but even within demographics, the results can vary wildly. The best thing that you can do is give people options. Make sure contact details like your phone number, email, address and social media channels are clearly displayed on your website, but also in any offline marketing materials and on invoices. A simple contact form online can also be hugely effective. Make it as easy as possible by giving your customers options, and make sure you respond to all types of communication, not just those that you prefer to use.

Always Follow-Up

Follow-ups are important. Generally, customers won’t get in touch if there’s a problem, and they are even less likely to get in touch if they are happy with products or services. They walk away from your store, or checkout online and you never hear from them again.

Have a business policy to follow up sales, enquiries and other communications within a certain time. This can just be a quick email or call to make sure everything is going well and to ask if there’s anything that you can help with. This not only boosts relationships, but it also gives you a perfect opportunity to ask for feedback and a chance to make further sales.

Make Customer Service a Priority

Customer service is the most crucial ingredient when it comes to building positive relationships with your customers. It should be something that you insist upon from your staff, and that you spend time training in. Go the extra mile for customers when you can, greet them warmly in-store and take the time to get to know them. Customers should always leave your store happy, with something positive to take away, even if they don’t make a purchase.

Online, customer service is just as important. An easy to use website, fast transactions, easy to find information and clear policies go a long way. Clear communication, fast replies, and a personal touch, with a handwritten note with purchases, or a personal thank you online can also help.

Value Honesty Above All Else

Honesty is so essential when it comes to building relationships and offering excellent customer service. If something is wrong, or a delivery is going to be late; If you can’t deliver the product or service that has been ordered, or changes need to be made, you need to be honest about it.

It can be tempting to hide away when something is wrong, out of fear of letting people down, or conflict. But, most of the time, people would much rather know the truth, and they’ll respect you more for being honest with them. You are more likely to damage future relationships by lying, or not saying anything at all. As soon as you know that there’s a problem, think of ways to make it better, get in touch with your customers and offer them some alternative options. Being proactive like this can even turn a negative into a positive.

Be Realistic

Being realistic is a big part of being honest. You should always aim to under-promise and over-deliver. It’s much better than the other way around. Don’t promise to deliver the next day if it’s not feasible. Don’t offer great deals if you can’t keep it up. Give your customers realistic expectations and set yourself realistic goals, and it will be easier to keep everyone happy.

Ask for Feedback

You can’t keep everyone happy all of the time. Your customers won’t always want the same from you, and you would drive yourself mad, trying to give absolutely everyone what they want. But, knowing what they want is a great start. Ask them. Ask your customers what you are doing well, what you could improve, how they feel about your relationship, how they like to communicate and other basic questions. You can do this on social media, with an email survey, with poles and even face to face.

Appreciate Them

Asking them for feedback is a great way to make them feel valued and appreciated. Another is simply saying thank you. Loyalty schemes can be another way to boost relationships and acknowledge loyalty.

7 Effective Strategies for Managing Customer Data

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Managing Customer Data|7 Effective Strategies for Managing Customer DataData is one of the most valuable assets in any organization. Product development, marketing, and pricing, among others, are all influenced by the data the business has. With this, to effectively manage customer data and extract the most value out of it, take note of the strategies listed in this article.

Use a Customer Data Platform

A customer data platform or CDP is one of the most important tools for organizations. It should not be confused with customer relationship management software. The main goal of a CDP is to improve marketing decisions by unifying online and offline data. Whether it is a website or physical store visits, it presents valuable insights that can help make better decisions.

If you are looking for a good CDP to try, check out this link https://www.lytics.com/.

Perform Data Hygiene

Dirty data is useless. It can do more harm than good for the user. Data becomes dirty when it is outdated or inaccurate, among other things that will negatively impact its quality. To implement data hygiene, one of the most important is to have standardization rules. Automatic data cleansing will also be effective. Doing it manually is not only labor-intensive but can also be prone to errors.

Invest in Your People

To effectively manage customer data, you need to invest in your human resources. Your employees have an important role to play in making sure of the quality of data. Provide comprehensive training, especially regarding the use of data management tools.

Collect Only What You Need

Data can be overwhelming. Also, the more information you have about your competitors, the more vulnerable you are to attack. With this, avoid collecting data that you don’t need. Gather only the essential information that you will need when making business decisions.

Be Ethical

Gathering information ethically is also one of the most important strategies in customer data management. When you collect information, be straightforward about how you intend to use the data collected. Provide customers with the option to opt-in if they want to share information. A well-crafted privacy policy is also a must. If you are unethical in data management, you can lose the trust of your customers and this can taint the image of the business.

Create a Backup

Data backups should be non-negotiable. There is a high chance of losing online data, so you need to prepare for the worst. By having a backup and recovery plan, the effects of data loss will be minimal. Otherwise, it can cripple the operations of your business.

Pay Attention to Data Security

Data security is important to protect information from attacks. Whether it is physical or digital means, you need to have proactive measures to prevent a data breach. For online data management, using strong passwords and multifactor authentication will help. Installing antivirus software can also be effective. It will also be good to limit accessibility.

From using a customer data platform to implementing data security measures, this article talked about the best ways to manage customer data. It is crucial to have a comprehensive approach to data management to protect its quality.

Make Your Company Customer-Centric – and Increase Profitability by a Whopping 75 Percent

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article | Make Your Company Customer-Centric - and Increase Profitability by a Whopping 75 PercentTechnology has provided us with unprecedented advances, information, knowledge, instant access and entertainment. It has changed the way we communicate, behave and think. But it has also led to a dramatic decline in our people skills. In the business world, focusing strictly on a digital experience will eliminate customer loyalty and emotional connection to a brand.

While there’s no denying that technology has amazing advantages to make it easier for the customer in most cases. But businesses need to provide it in moderation and not at the cost of the human experience. Even in this digital age, personal relationships are critical to building trust and loyalty with customers. Despite all the tech advancements, the disruptive force happening in business today is relationship building.

Research shows that a 5 percent increase in customer satisfaction can increase a company’s profitability by whopping 75 percent. Furthermore, 80 percent of a company’s future revenue will come from just 20 percent of the existing customer base.

Business leaders striving to stand out from the competition need to reinvent their business model to marry digital and human experiences in the best way possible. They need to place their emphasis on customer service in order to dominate in today’s emerging Relationship Economy.

Use these strategies to make your company customer-centric:

1. Recognize the importance of customer service to the bottom line. Executives frequently focus on analyzing the company’s profit and loss to determine where the company is over-spending and being wasteful, and then figure out how to reduce expenses to drive more profit to the bottom line. However, a company’s biggest expense doesn’t show on a P&L, at least not directly. There’s no line item for poor customer service, but nothing may have a greater impact on your bottom line than dissatisfied customers. Poor customer service dramatically causes loss of sales, decline of company reputation, lack of new customers and referrals, increased discounting, lower morale, higher turnover — all further perpetuating a poor customer experience. It’s imperative that every person in your company understands that your biggest expense is dissatisfied customers.

2. Intentionally train employees. Customer service and soft skills aren’t common sense. Companies must intentionally train employees to avoid the traps of a low service aptitude and to embrace the customer’s perspective. The best companies teach their employees to educate customers rather than sell to them. Doing that requires real commitment on the part of a company and someone to make sure that it’s followed up by action.

3. Make customer satisfaction the driving force throughout the organization.  It’s clear that developing a customer-obsessed organization extends well beyond your customer service team. It has to be the responsibility of every single department: human resources, training, marketing, support, sales, IT, finance, operations and, most importantly, leadership. Employee compensation needs to be as focused on customer retention — delivering world-class customer service – as it is on customer acquisition.

4. Reallocate advertising and marketing dollars to customer experience. Traditional branding is an old paradigm. Today, marketing is no longer in control of your brand — it’s now the customer who drives public perception through reviews and referrals. Companies weary of spending exorbitant amounts on advertising and marketing are now acknowledging the role of the customer and placing the marketing department under customer experience. Those doing have found that investing in the customer experience has a better return-on-investment than advertising.

5. Work to build repeat customers. A shortsighted obsession with constantly bringing in new customers to your business is significantly more expensive than building an incredible customer experience. Start asking yourself if you’re constantly offering incentives to new customers only. What about rewarding the customers who’ve been loyal and who do business with you regularly, or refer others to your firm? You ignore them at your peril. This is because repeat customers spend more than new customers, give higher satisfaction scores and give referrals more often than new customers.

In the Relationship Economy the primary currency is made up of the connections and trust among customers, employees and vendors that create significantly more value in what you sell. These relationships and connections help make price irrelevant and make your organization the one that customers can’t live without. Companies that flourish in the Relationship Economy will attract a higher percentage of clients who value doing business with a brand that demonstrates not only expertise, but also genuine caring.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | John DiJuliusJohn DiJulius is president of The DiJulius Group and a sought-after authority on world-class customer experience, working with companies such as The Ritz-Carlton, Lexus, Starbucks, Progressive Insurance and more. In his new book, The Relationship Economy: Building Stronger Customer Connections in the Digital Age (Greenleaf, Oct. 8, 2019), he shows readers how to attain meaningful, lasting relationships with customers. Learn more at thedijuliusgroup.com.

Easy Ways to Encourage Customer Retention

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Retention|Easy Ways to Encourage Customer RetentionCustomer retention is one of the hallmarks of a successful business. When you have repeat customers and genuine loyalty, you know that what you have to offer is just what your customer base is looking for. And, when this happens, you don’t need to worry so much about figuring out ways to appeal to more people or different groups. You know where you’re pitching.

Designing a customer loyalty program is one of the most effective strategies to boost your business growth. It is organic and doesn’t require the same amount of resources or time as trying to locate and identify new customers. However, this doesn’t mean that you can be complacent about your customers at all. You still need to think carefully about how you can keep their custom and continue to raise the bar.

So what does it take to ensure customer retention?

Make it Easy to be Loyal

People like doing the easy thing. We prefer supermarkets because they offer everything we need under one roof, we prefer products that free-up our time and once we’ve found something we like, we tend not to keep searching. This is ultimately what customer loyalty is about – you need to make it as easy as possible for your customers to stick with you.

One way you can make it easier is to offer a subscription service with easy and accurate billing. Billsby is a great option for this and the software can even give you a greater understanding of your customers with a value score. For your customers, a subscription means that they don’t have to think about using your company, they can make their choice once and then roll with it.

Another good way to make it easier to be loyal is to offer your customers incentives to continue shopping with your business. Supermarket loyalty cards are some of the best-known programs and many offer their customers discounts and exclusive deals, often based on the customer’s shopping habits. This is why loyalty programs like these are so important – not only can you encourage your customers to spend more by offering small discounts, but you can also learn a lot about them.

The easier you can make it to be loyal, the more likely your customers are to stick by your business. Just make sure that you understand what your customers are looking for and continue to meet their needs better than your competitors!

Stay in Touch

Staying in touch with your customers is all about communication. If you can’t talk to your customers, you won’t be able to tell them about the latest deals you have for them or find out what they could be looking for. There are so many ways to stay in touch now that if you don’t have a social media account, you are already way behind the times! Don’t even bother to continue reading this article just yet – open a new tab right now and set those things up!

Welcome back!

So, now you have a social media account, you need to know how to use it. Social media is brilliant for showing off your brand identity and engaging your customers on a more personal level. You don’t need to be constantly advertising or showing off; you can ask questions, comment on industry developments or simply post things you find interesting or amusing.

Another crucial form of communication is the humble email campaign. Again, if you don’t have one already, you must start thinking about this as soon as possible. You can even use your social media presence to build up your list of email addresses. The key thing to remember is that your emails must be relevant to your audience and provide some value. This might mean sending a newsletter including links to your blog but it could be more tailored and include particular deal codes they can use with your business to get discounts or other incentives.

Staying in touch with your customers should also allow them to influence how you grow and develop your business. In other words, you need to be able to have a conversation, not just a one-way lecture.

Use a Customer Feedback Loop

And that’s where the customer feedback loop comes in. If you want to know what your customers think of your services and business, the best way to find out is to ask them. Yes, it’s really that simple!

Surveys are one of the best ways to ask a lot of customers about a specific aspect of your business and to find out what the majority think. However, you must ask the right questions to get the information you really need. Remember that even though you might really want positive responses to all the questions you ask, the reality is that you know that there are things you need to improve and you need to be neutral to find out what those things are.

Another way to gain customer feedback is to run a focus group. This is a brilliant way to gauge interest in new products or ideas you would like to experiment with soon. Customer focus groups also provide forums for people to give their opinions in a more open way. Though you should certainly keep the conversation from deviating too far from your requirements, allowing your customers to express themselves openly could be hugely beneficial. Asking a market research company to run these groups on your behalf will also remove any possibility of unconscious bias.

Customers want to stay loyal because it is easier than constant shopping around. However, you still have to make an effort to keep their custom and ensure that you don’t take them for granted. Shopping around might be frustrating but it doesn’t mean that your customers can’t be tempted away. Keeping an eye on the competition is one way to avoid losing customers but you should also be thinking about what unique services or products you could offer.

If you really want to keep your customers, the best thing you can do is keep them at the very centre of your business plan.