When it comes to building your business, it is about five times more expensive to take on a new customer than to maintain an existing relationship with an existing customer.
The key to keeping your business afloat is to establish trust with your customers while building relationships with them. The happier the customer, the more likely they will recommend your business and return to your business for more than one service.
So how do you build relationships with customers?
It can be a tricky thing to walk the line between benefitting your business and building a real relationship with your customers. You don’t want to lean too much one way or the other or make too many missteps.
You have to consider what your business needs, what the customer needs, and how to move forward in business without betraying either set of needs.
If you are looking to grow your business relationships, there are some tried and true practices you can implement. Read on to learn how to build relationships with your customers.
Be Genuine
One thing that no customer ever wants is to feel like they were tricked.
Feeling cheated, taken advantage of, or like you were sweet-talked into making a decision are all reasons for a customer to never want anything from your business again.
The easiest way to make your customers feel that they can trust you is to genuinely desire to help them or offer your services.
The more they trust you, the more comfortable they will be around you. Then they can begin to feel free to be themselves and build a relationship with you.
Beginning to build a relationship will require some basics from you and your employees.
Being a good listener is key to making a customer feel like they matter to you. Listen to their concerns, their needs, and be thoughtful in your responses.
Be open to feedback. If someone is not satisfied with their service, it’s important to make sure they feel heard and to deal with their issue head-on. Ask questions about their concerns and their life to get to know them.
You need their business, so you should genuinely be concerned with their problems and opinions. Remember to practice empathy.
Being consistent and responding to customers in a timely manner is also key to earning trust. When you are reliable, customers will feel comfortable going to you with questions or issues. No one wants to deal with a company that is difficult to get ahold of.
When you openly show that you listen to your customers and that they can rely on you, you’re opening the door to earning trust with customers.
Be Consistent
One of the most important ways to establish a relationship with customers is to actively be part of their lives.
You may receive excellent customer service from a business, but if you cannot remember the business’s name or where it is located, you might never use their services again.
It’s important to have a plan in place to remain a visible and pleasant part of your customers’ lives. It’s also important to remember that there is a fine line between being visible and irritating customers with your communication.
For example, maybe your business has a special sale or event at the same time every year. Your customers need to know about it so they can take advantage of it.
It’s effective to remind them about it by putting up signs outside or inside of your store to advertise it. You can send an email to remind them of the opportunity as well. What you do not want to do is barrage them with incessant reminders that will annoy them.
Pushing your services on your customers too much will do the opposite of building a relationship. They may feel that you are more concerned with making money than their well-being.
Some companies utilize technology to remain consistent with their customers as well. Sending out mass text messages to customers who have signed up for text notifications is a great way to remain present without overstepping boundaries.
You can also utilize the benefits of a CRM system which will help you learn insights about your customers. You can find more here about the Keap CRM system for businesses.
No matter which route of communication you choose, being consistent with your customers is a big factor in building a relationship with them.
Incentivize
Everyone loves to feel special. Everyone loves a deal or a discount. One way to build a relationship with customers and get them to return to you time and time again is to reward them for their loyalty.
In business, there is always going to be competition. Customers are more likely to spend their money somewhere where they can slowly build up to rewards or savings in some way.
It can make them feel cared for and like their well-being is at the forefront of your service model. On top of that, the more they frequent your business, the more often you will see them and the more likely you are to build a relationship with them.
There are several ways you can incentivize and entice people to become consistent customers.
A rewards program is very effective. This can be rewarding your customers with a discount after several purchases or allowing them to accrue points with every purchase for store credit or a discount.
You can also bundle deals or sale opportunities for special times of the year. Offering discounts or deals for new customers is a great way to gain business.
Some businesses offer even more discounts or deals after a customer has been loyal for a longer length of time, like a year or more.
Build Relationships With Customers and More
It is vital to your business to build relationships with customers! Now that you know some great ways to start building relationships, you can put them into practice.
Read our business section today to learn even more tips and tricks about growing your business.
