Relationships make the world go round—from that first flicker of attraction in high school or college to walking down the aisle on your wedding day. From landing your first customer to striking the business deal that takes your startup to the next level.
Relationships are key to every aspect of our lives.
So why is it that so many business owners rest on their laurels when it comes to customer relationships?
How can we future-proof ourselves against developments in the world of customer relationships? Well, the first step is to understand them.
New platforms, new opportunities
Advances in technology have blown customer interaction wide open. While such interactions were once limited to face-to-face in-store interactions, telephone conversations via customer service channels, or email marketing communications, modern customer relationships are played out across a variety of different fields. These include:
Social media
Social media is a vital tool in your customer relationship arsenal. Over 80% of adults in the United States are engaged via social media.
Adopting a diverse approach by utilizing the benefits of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, and others pays dividends for businesses.
Mobile devices
Mobile devices are similarly important. The percentage of online interaction handled via mobile devices is increasing year-on-year. Mobile marketing revenues now exceed $20 billion.
Optimizing your online presence for mobile browsing, deploying applications to support the needs of customers, and integrating mobile into your consumer nurturing strategies are effective ways to prepare for the future of customer relationships.
Feedback loops
Developing feedback loops are also important. High-quality communication transforms your client base from a steady source of income to a rich resource of information which you can use to develop the services you offer.
Build feedback opportunities into the structure of your customer interactions – either via CTAs deployed amongst your content marketing pieces, or by reaching out directly after a purchase – and use the information gathered to hone the service you provide.
CRM software
It’s not so easy to go it alone with so much data to process across a variety of different fields and metrics. This is why a good quality piece of customer relationship management – or CRM – software can help to lighten the load.
Track customer interactions, iron out grievances, and optimize your firm for success in the market; a good CRM platform is worth its weight in proverbial gold.
The all-important efficiency factor
A business cannot survive without its customers, but nurturing relationships with those customers must be cost-effective. This is the endless balancing act; the high-wire performance that we must undergo each and every day.
It all comes down to value. Automating all of your processes, blasting out a ton of identical marketing emails to clients, and stripping back your customer service and nurturing departments is surely the cheapest way to develop customer relationships, but is it effective?
Of course not. No one wants to be treated like that, and this approach will simply turn customers off.
Your customers are human beings; they respond well to a personal service and to high levels of care. It is up to your department to place a value on that level of care, and work to achieve it in a way that is not only cost-light, but also efficient and effective.
Source Digital list mag