Money cannot buy all the things in the world including relationships. In corporate world too, relationships play a very important role. Customer relationships bring you growth and more customers.Customer retention should be on the minds of small and medium-sized businesses. With rising customers acquisition cost businesses need to innovate and assume a proactive role in retaining clients and building a strong base.
If you think that your companies give best services and continue to tell yourself about the high service standards then you are no different from other companies down the street. You should start asking yourself what makes our relationship different? Powerful relationships don’t just happen from one-time meetings at networking events- and you don’t want your desk to be too cluttered of too many business cards. Follow up is what basically matters. Customers will recommend you only if they remember you quite often. So to build client base stronger and healthier here are the ideas, and it’s not hard as you think:
1)Build your network(it’s your sales lifeline)
Build your network as much as you can. Your network includes business colleagues, professional acquaintances, prospective and existing customers, partners, suppliers, contractors and association members, as well as family, friends and people you meet in your community. Communicate in a sense as it gives value to your customers as well as the relationship which is building.
2)Don’t just build your customer list – segment it.
Every customer is different. No matter how charming, enthusiastic or persuasive you are, no one will likely remember you from a business card or a one-time meeting at networking event. Personalized communication is the way you should opt for. Many companies believe that excessive e-mails can make a customer furious. However, great companies try to make personal connection by providing relevant information, which is certainly a game changer! Email Marketing tools like aWeber give you the ability to segment lists based on who clicked what link, who opened what email, and who didn’t open it. That’s a great start.
3) Reward loyal customers, and they’ll reward you.
According to global management consulting firm Bain and Co., a 5 percent increase in retention yields profit increases of 25 to 100 percent. And on average, repeat customers spend 67 percent more than new customers. Therefore, repeat customers bring in more profit for you. Are you doing good to them in order to make them work with you again? Reward loyal and old customers frequently. Stay in touch, and give them something of value in exchange for their time, attention and business. It doesn’t need to be too much; a coupon, notice of a special event, helpful insights or advice, or news all this can be effective. If you don’t stay in touch with your customers, your competitors will.
4)Frequency matters
Remember that weird feeling when a childhood friend sends you Facebook request? A long time ago there was a relationship, but not anymore. You’ve moved on. Frequency is what matters in a relationship with your customers too. Send them daily newsletters, relevant information that might be helpful. Keeping customers engaged with the company is a sign of good communication and relationship.
5) Meet expectations and build trust
Trust is like glue that holds the relationship stronger and better. Your customers and clients need to trust you. It is built by continuously doing what you said and their feedback. If you tell your customer you will call back in some time, do call back within an hour. Trust is the thing that makes you and your customers bonded.
As you have now got all the ideas on how to increase your sales by expanding customer and client base. Do master this technique as this can make a small business evolve into million dollar business. However, If real estate is all about location, location, location then small business is all about relationship, relationship, relationship.
-Vatsal Doshi
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