What priority should your customers have in your business? The first priority, right? When your clients are the backbone of your business, you should constantly be working on forming a connection with them. With the daily grind of everyday business and evolving technologies, it can sometimes be difficult to engage with your clients. Luckily, there are five simple ways you can connect with your customers that will have them coming back for more business and referring you to their entire network.
1. Establish trust
There’s nothing more annoying than calling a phone number and having a robotic voice answer the line. You end up frustrated and yelling “representative” until you’re red in the face. People want to talk to an actual person. They want to establish a relationship with someone who hears them and understands their problems. And the key to having a satisfied client is to establish the trust.
When you’re just getting to know your client, hold back on making your sales pitch and settle on having a conversation first. Cultivate the trust before you try to sell them your products. If your existing client has a complaint, pay close attention to what they’re saying and respond with empathy. Try relating to their situation by telling them about a similar experience you had.
2. Ask questions
Asking your client questions goes hand-in-hand with establishing trust. Next time you’re chatting with your client on the phone, get to know them a little better. Ask them about their family or what plans they have for the weekend. Clients will appreciate that you’re not just after their money, but actually, want to get to know them. Pay attention to their answers and store that information for the next time you’re speaking with them. Showing your clients that you actually listen and remember what they tell you will go a long way in forging a deeper connection.
Getting to know your clients also has the added benefit of being able to anticipate their needs. Once they’ve opened up to you, they’ll be comfortable with explaining exactly what they’re looking for. And once you get to know their day-to-day life and their needs, you’ll be better equipped at providing the right products for their marketing campaign.
3. Stay in touch
After you make a sale, don’t drop off the face of the earth – your clients still want to hear from you! Maybe not in the form of a phone call every day, but they would like to know what you’re up to from a distance.
Posting on social media is a fun way to keep your clients in the loop about any company news or updates. Email campaigns are another – more direct – way of reaching out to your clients, which is ideal if you want to share the latest trending products. And what’s great is that SAGE already provides pre-designed email campaigns that are ready to send straight to your clients.
4. Provide the best customer service
There’s a reason everyone loves shopping at stores like Nordstrom and Zappos – because of their excellent customer service. And we’ve got the stories to prove it!
In 1975, a man wanted to return a set of snow tires, but unbeknownst to him, the store where he had purchased them had been replaced by a Nordstrom. But here’s where Nordstrom’s legendary customer service comes in: they refunded the man his money for the tires!
Another incredible customer service story comes from Zappos. A couple was preparing for a move and the husband packed all his wife’s jewelry into her purse. Little did he know that the purse was set aside because the woman wanted to return it. Once she had figured out that all her jewelry was being shipped to Zappos inside her purse, she immediately called the Zappos customer service center. Her rep had the purse re-routed to his desk, and then he – personally – purchased a plane ticket to hand-deliver the jewelry back to the couple.
Now you might not be able to deliver this extreme level of customer service, but one simple strategy you can implement is always responding to your client within 24 hours. Responding to any questions or concerns will not only showcase your efficiency, but it will also reestablish the trust and the strengthen the relationship between you and your clients. The bottom line should be to always leave the client satisfied and grateful.
5. Show you care
Once you’ve formed a personal relationship with your clients, you must also work on connecting with them on a larger scale. On a company level, how are you connecting with your clients? Can your clients relate to your company’s motto and values? Your clients are looking for businesses that not only care about the customer but also about what your company is doing to better the world. According to a Cone Communications survey, 87% of Americans will purchase a product from a company that is devoted to bettering the community.
Engaging in corporate social responsibility will show your clients that you care about bettering the world around you. If you’re looking for a way to give back, check out the new Social Responsibility Search in SAGE Online. This new product research feature allows you to search for products based on the causes you believe in. Now you can buy promotional products from suppliers who donate a portion of their product sales to homeless shelters, pet rescues, and more!
Sources:
http://www.themillennialimpact.com/sites/default/files/reports/Phase1Report_MIR2017_060217.pdf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marissaperetz/2017/09/27/want-to-engage-millennials-try-corporate-social-responsibility/#341d6e726e4e
https://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2017/08/01/three-wow-customer-service-stories-from-zappos-southwest-airlines-and-nordstrom/#271314722aba
https://sharpencx.com/blog/nordstrom-customer-service/
