Good to know you value customer relationships or strong relationships! If you weren’t you wouldn’t be here!
It is true that businesses run solely on clients and relationships with them are the foundation of every company’s existence. You cannot expect success in the B2B world unless you have good customer relationships. In fact, by improving customer relationships, you can set yourself apart from the competition.
Want some stats? Here it is!
86% of clients stop doing business with a company when customer relationships are not up to par.
Also, when clients receive personalized service, 80% of them say they are interested in doing business with that company.
Contrary to popular belief, it takes effort to build long-term customer relationships. Also, you need to adapt your approach to each client, as there is no one-size-fits-all concept here.
Hope you get the idea!
Let’s learn more about the importance of having strong relationships with clients and tips you can follow to build strong bones.
The importance of strong customer relationships
You must have noticed that when a company provides substandard customer service, they start losing business. This means that if you want to grow, you need to connect well with clients and develop long-term relationships so that you can get repeat business from them. If clients are satisfied, they will recommend your product or service to others they know. To date, word-of-mouth marketing is getting the best results, which is why it is essential to build strong relationships with customers.
How do build and maintain good customer relationships?
Now that you know the importance of building and maintaining customer relationships, you must be wondering what you need to do to build them. Ways to build customer relationships and establish long-lasting customer relationships,
Find out their preferred communication channels
Selling involves a lot of communication, and you need to make sure you do it effectively. Since customers’ preferences may be different, it’s your job to figure out which communication channel they prefer.
While some prospects prefer to connect on the phone, some are annoyed by calls. Find out if they’re comfortable and ask them if it’s okay to send updates via email.
Emphasizing customer preference is like putting your best foot forward in building strong customer relationships.
Consider getting out of the way
When you are in the process of building your relationship with a client, there may be times when you need to get out of the way and oblige them. To meet the customer’s needs, you need to offer them a customized solution or do something completely different from your core business. When you do so, the customer is never going to forget your support, and it may even open up a path for you to earn some additional revenue.
This way, you may come across an opportunity that you may not have considered before. Remember that you get paid more for your extra efforts.
Another way to build strong relationships is to make a solid impression on clients by completing the project ahead of schedule. This will show that you respect obligations and are committed to your work. clients will talk about your honesty to their peers and you may get referrals.
Continued follow-up
If you tend to give up easily, you can’t expect to get the best results. In order not to lose customers, you must follow through diligently. However, don’t act like a stalker. You can even ask when the customer wants to contact you.
Use social networking sites like LinkedIn and Twitter to send emails in between. Even better if you offer free resources on the off chance that they are helpful.
Don’t just talk about business
When you have a professional relationship with a client, you don’t have to control it. A strong bond with the customer requires you to go beyond business communication. You can ask your customer how their vacation went or ask them about their recent personal accomplishments.
It’s okay to talk about things that aren’t business-related because it’s more important. You can send them a card to contact them personally on special occasions.
Treating clients as people will help you stand out from salespeople who only see clients as sales opportunities and don’t know how to build customer relationships with them.
Give equal attention to all customers
It is best if you try to give equal importance to your clients regardless of their background. When you make a customer happy, you get a referral, even if you don’t close the deal with them. Additionally, having a good relationship with them will help in the long run because when the client changes jobs, they will refer you to their new company.
You should also note that a client’s small business can turn into a Fortune 500 company. So, if you want to build strong relationships with each customer, try to meet each customer with equal warmth.
Do what you promise
You need to meet the expectations of the clients and deliver what you promised them. Meeting them doesn’t just happen; Try to do your best to build a strong relationship with them.
It starts with setting realistic expectations from the start. However, if you live up to them, you can build a good relationship with the customer and they will start trusting you more. Therefore, you must give everything you can to deliver what you promised for the customer to trust you.
Show the customer your human side
When you build your relationship with customers, you should treat it like any other relationship. Dignity, understanding, and compassion are needed. You have to treat the customer as a person and show genuine concern if you want a long-term bond with the customer.
Consider this example: If a customer has been sick for a while, you need to send an email asking them about their well-being. It will let them know that you are thinking about them and that you mean well.
Remember that if you fake it the other person will know and it will turn them off. You should know your boundaries and not be too friendly with customers, making them uncomfortable. This is an important point to keep in mind when you are building customer relationships.
Earn your place as an expert
Earning the customer’s trust is the most valuable thing for a salesperson. To look like an expert, you need to be an expert in your niche and know your product or service inside out. You need to show that you have a thorough knowledge of your profession, which shows in the way you speak and act. When client understands that you are knowledgeable enough, they will look to you for advice and you need to make sure that you maintain that image well. You can send them helpful resources or invite them to an event that will be helpful to them.
Be open and give your honest opinion
If you want to build long-term relationships with customers, they need to trust you. For that, you need to be open about your thoughts and opinions about a project. Just nodding along to what clients are saying and not telling them what your real point is will eventually backfire. You won’t be truly interested, and your chances of building a long-term relationship will be gone.
When you express your ideas with confidence, your clients will seek you out for your advice and turn to you for future needs. It is a great way to build and maintain customer relationships.
Be honest if you don’t know
Most of the time, you want to say yes to whatever the client says. But doing so can be dangerous when the prospect has big plans. If you have the slightest doubt that you can live up to the client’s expectations, share it with them immediately. Don’t blindly say yes at that moment and then back out, you’ll lose hope in the future. If you have a problem, you can say something like – “That’s amazing, but there may be some policies we need to consider, so let me check before we continue.” By being honest, you will earn the other person’s trust and repeat business.