How to build profitable customer relationships
Establishing and managing an effective customer relationship strategy will help to drive your business forward and contribute to profitable growth. Many companies forge relationships at the start of the sales cycle, but often they are not nurtured and maintained further down the line.
Companies that have formed positive relationships and trust with their customers stand a greater chance of keeping them happy – and coming back time and time again.
Read on to discover how to build customer relationships that are both profitable and long-lasting.
Know your customers
It sounds obvious, but this most basic principle of building relationships is often overlooked. Every customer is an individual and may respond better to a phone call than an email. Keep a record of their requirements and listen to their needs.
You could also ask them to take part in a survey to better understand how they view your company and its services – and by giving them the opportunity to provide feedback, they’ll feel that their opinion is valued. Use a CRM to keep track of all communications – as when you know your customers you can make intelligent business decisions to forge a stronger relationship with them.
Develop your ‘brand voice’ and tone
As the owner of a business, you may feel that you’ve established the right way to talk with your customers – but has this vision filtered down to the customer-facing teams and account managers?
Projecting a clear and consistent tone will gain the trust of your customers – do you want to be seen as informative or cool? Authoritative or friendly? Once you’ve decided, make sure your teams know how to communicate correctly with new and existing customers.
Anticipate your customer’s needs
Once you gained a good knowledge of a customer, you’ll open up more opportunities to offer the right product or service at the right time. Companies that can anticipate their customers’ requirements and provide a solution to fulfil them will reap the rewards.
Increase customer loyalty
61% of customers stop buying from a company if they have a poor customer experience.
By adopting techniques to build customer relationships, you will increasingly deliver great experiences, which increases trust and loyalty and stops customers from migrating away to your competitors.
Empower account managers with training
Information sharing and continuous development are essential in helping your teams provide exceptional service. All too often, individuals are placed in front-facing roles with little more than a hefty training manual and expected to get on with the job.
Training can help your staff to gain a better understating of handling challenging customers and an insight into client retention. In-person or online training will empower your team members to build stronger relationships, make smarter decisions – and ultimately increase the bottom line of the business.
Get ready to wow your customers
Customer expectations are higher than ever before, and the marketplace is increasingly crowded.
If you’d like to take the first steps toward building more profitable customer relationships, then join London TFE for our Key Account Management Profitable Customer Relationships training course in London from June 27 – July 1 and learn how to increase loyalty via value-added experiences and a personalised service.
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