Seven hot tips for better customer relations

To help you improve customer loyalty let us take a moment to explore seven tips which can lead to higher levels of customer relations. You will find that these messages will not only benefit your customers, but will help you in your relationships with employees , suppliers and business partners . In each of these tips, how well your business learns and leverages its knowledge is central to success.

1. Maintaining high levels of customer value requires ongoing intimacy and joint problem-solving. Business needs to move away from a world of just serving customers to one that welcomes feedback and works together to make lives easier, more enjoyable and more profitable. This requires the utmost integrity, flexibility and empathy. The better people understand the needs and interests of your customers, the harder it will be for other businesses to cash in on your hard work. So, learning, education and feedback is the key.

2. Managers need to be skilled to meet two quite different expectations from customers. The first comes when a customer has an expectation of what will happen next after they acquire your services or buy your products. This is heavily influenced by past experiences and your track record. If you have a good track record, you are off to a good start. If you do not have a good track record, you will need to address this issue first. Ignoring it will not help. The second expectation revolves around what the customer view is of how well they believe your product or service will work in practice. Here you will need to convince them of the benefits such as ease of use, saving time, money and effort, and the quality of your product. Then you will need to back this up with consistent and high-level delivery. As Dr Ken Blanchard says, your job is not only to meet or exceed these expectations but to create a raving fan.

3. Take the time to write a customer service objective, including considerations such as: product and service, the type of relationship you are seeking to deliver and, finally, the qualities of the brand, image or reputation. In shaping your ideas consider:

   1. What makes your product and service special and stand out from your competitors and partners?

   2. How could you package your services and products differently?

   3. Which personal qualities will you demonstrate when you relate to your customers?

   4. What will the service experience be like for the customer?

   5. What is the biggest challenge facing your customers?

   6. What is the key message regarding your brand, image and reputation?

   7. How then will we develop our knowledge to meet these aims and goals?

4. Loyalty comes from long- term collaboration and excellent rapport.

   This includes viewing people as partners rather than opposite parties. Consequently, managers should encourage retention and avoid loss of customers (churn) as a primary objective. Avoid spending all your energies on seeking out new contacts and expanding market share.

5. Focus your efforts on improving your relationship with your current customers by better connection, interaction and honesty.

6. Be thankful for loyalty and do not take it for granted. You need to understand how your service is perceived and then make it your passion to discover more about your customers. Use a healthy mix of face-to-face conversations, phone and digital technology interfaces to keep interest and loyalty. Remember the frequency of meaningful contact with your customers equates to higher loyalty and improved competitive intelligence. In some cases a simple e-mail once a month may be sufficient, while on other occasions sitting down and having a chat would be better for the more valuable customers. I know of a local sandwich shop near my home whose owners organized a Christmas harbour cruise for its customers. No doubt they got plenty of return business the following year.

7. In all levels of service you must connect with people s hearts as well as their minds. Personalizing your service and making people feel important is a must here. So using their name , recalling your last conversation or simply smiling can produce wonders. See recovery in service as a wonderful opportunity to improve relationships beyond current levels. Business needs to understand that all people have legitimate concerns and frustrations. How well we respond will indicate whether we will maintain the relationship or lose it. By showing a little more interest and giving personal treatment you will increase the chances of your customer not being swayed to go elsewhere. Ongoing loyalty is based on a strong emotional connection.

8. Show and feel empathy with the customers; understand their concerns from all perspectives. See service as an opportunity to build win “win relationships. Seek out those products and services that can dramatically improve customer value. Avoid spending resources on ˜squeaky wheels which customers are not happy about but are willing to put up with. The most important goal here is to determine whether you have met the customers expectations and acted on their feedback. Questions you may need to explore include:

   1. Does your customer have a voice on how you can improve your services and products?

   2. Did your business explain all the relevant information?

   3. Did your business listen and understand the customer s needs?

   4. Is there an adequate follow-up, support and assistance to your customers?

   5. Does the customer know why you value their patronage ?