How Customer Relationships Can Improve Your Business Brand

Managing a small business can be daunting, especially if there is lack of knowledge and strategies in keeping customers interested and happy. This is a problem for me. After I started my own online business, I realized that it’s not only a numbers game but also a day-to-day competition for brands.

It wasn’t easy gaining customer’s attention online and eventually retain them. Good thing there were proven ways to handle customers that helped me build a reputable and well trusted brand today.

It’s important to know how to strengthen relationships with customers for a long-term business success. Maintaining customers is also essential in building a brand regardless of the type of business being put up.

The challenge is determining which strategies for building customer relationship are helpful in building a unique brand that people would trust eventually. So, if you also find it difficult when it comes to managing customer relationship, here are some tips to learn from:

1. Show you care.

In any kind of relationship, caring is an excellent way to let someone know they are important. But in building a brand, you need to be authentic in showing how much you care for your customers. Be genuine in offering help. Once people see that you are dependable and original, they will trust your brand.

2. Communicate regularly.

Whenever you see a comment on your blog post, be sure to reply politely. Visitors love it when the site owners reply to their comments. That is something that fuels them to keep updated with your posts. Also, make your customers feel important by listening to them and providing solutions. Sending a thank you note or phone call can change someone’s mood.

3. Build and nurture your online community.

With the wide accessibility of the internet today, it’s easier for brands to reach their target market online. By building an online community where your customers and prospects are connected to, you can simply promote your brand and let them know why they need to buy it. One best platform to connect with your audience is through social media.

4. Organize events.

If you want a more personal way of engaging your audience and customers, hosting events can be an effective way. Whether online or offline, spending time to interact with your customers is important in building a strong brand.

5. Reward customers.

Current, regular, and loyal customers are worth rewarding. You can develop your own loyalty program to show them your appreciation and respect for being loyal to your brand. When they feel appreciated and rewarded, you can make them trust your brand even more.

6. Stay consistent no matter what.

One of the most important factors in maintaining customer relationships is consistency. Be consistent in the marketing methods you use and regularly update your site. Provide customers with up-to-date information they need when buying products online. Just be consistent in your effort to retain customers in the best possible way.

There are so many ways to build relationship with customers. You can speak to them and ask for feedback so you can get tips on how to make your brand better.

Send newsletters that talk about your products and promote your brand to your customers. Make sure to offer them something that adds value to your business.

An exceptional and relevant content can go a long way when it comes to building your brand online. Be available when people are reaching out to you. Make time in answering their questions and providing them what they need.

It would also help if you host live conferences on the internet. Speak to your audience and thank them for their support. Also, give them special benefits as they join your live events.

Here’s a perfect example where you can host live conferences on the internet.

Importance of Customer Relationship

Loyal and regular customers are essential in any business success. In fact, there’s 60-70 percent chance of making a sale to a current customer for business, while there’s only 5-20 percent chance for new prospects.

By maintaining excellent customer relationships, you can grow your small business into a large corporation just like other huge brands today.

So, do you know how to maintain good customer relationship for your business? The process of retaining customers is an important factor in any business strategy.

Here are five easy tips to help you maintain customers:

1. Always listen to your customers.

By simply listening to your customers, you can improve your brand. You can reach out to your customers through social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. These platforms help businesses respond to their customers in the quickest way possible.

2. Stay true.

When offering something, do not sound rehearsed. Be true when you say you offer products because you want to help lives. Don’t just treat your business like a money-making machine. Do it with passion and you will be rewarded.

3. Introduce brand ambassadors.

Successful brands have reputable brand ambassadors to represent their products and services worldwide. However, it would not be easy for new startups. But the results would be great through consistent marketing efforts together with efficient brand ambassadors.

4. Emphasize customer success.

For any business, customer success serves as a crucial focus point. By helping customers get what they exactly need, they will reward your brand with valuable feedback and loyalty. And that is all that matters.

5. Stay in touch.

Just like all other kinds of relationships, staying in touch with your customer is important. You can do this through holiday cards, email reminders, or greeting Tweets. Whatever your method, make that your customers are happy with it.

Types of Customer Relationship Management

  • Operational CRM.

  • This type supports front office business processes involving direct interactions with customers via any communication channels like email, fax, or phone. The details for each interaction include preferences, requirements, topics of discussions, and many others.
  • Analytical CRM.

  • With analytical customer relationship, it allows business owners and executives in analyzing customer information that is provided by operational CRM apps. As a result, the behavior of customers is understood while deriving real value to the business. In addition, analytical CRM helps in approaching customers with relevant information as well as proposals.
  • Collaborative CRM.

  • This allows businesses and customers in easier negotiation. Therefore, customer relationships are enhanced while producing better customer service and sales. The main objective is to improve service quality offered to customers.

Benefits of CRMs

Through effective CRMs, businesses enjoy more benefits to their overall sales and customer retention programs. These benefits include helping companies in determining their most profitable consumers while establishing long term relationships with customers.

Using the right CRM also reduces churn rate or the customers who decided to stop using or buying the products or services of a brand. Personalized and customized products make this possible by drawing interest of the customers.

Customer relationship managements systems also enables better customer support and service across all touch points. As a result, customers remain buying your products and believing in your brand.

Let’s hear what these three Customer Relationship Experts have to say:

I think that certainly CRM and marketing automation solutions have to be complementary systems and are deeply integrated.” - Heidi Melin, Chief Marketing Officer of Eloqua.

CRM is:

“…a holistic encompassing of strategy, process, and technology aimed at improving the mutual value of a customer and a company’s relationship.” - Brian Vellmure, Principal and Founder of Initium LLC/ Innovantage International.

There has been an ongoing discussion of CRM for the last 15 years – what it is, how it works…it’s settled in two areas. Number one is from strategic side. It’s what are the customer-facing strategies and programs that you need to actually engage customers, and allow them to interact in ways that they want to interact.” - Paul Greenberg, Managing Principal of The 56 Group, LLC

Relationship Between Facebook Fans and Business Trust

Perhaps, you’re familiar with Facebook and the platform’s capability to give you millions of followers in a shorter timeframe. A good Facebook page for your brand can be helpful in drawing more visitors to your main site. That is, if you can provide compelling and relevant posts on a regular basis.

So, apart from using software for managing customer relationship, you can also take advantage of social media hype for more customers and followers.

No matter how you use the internet today, make sure that you are implementing remarkable campaigns that your target market will notice. Proactive approach makes customers more active in supporting your products and other offers.

Building a customer community on social media also helps in showing that your brand values customer feedback. By allowing customers to have the chance to express themselves or share their experience, you’re simply giving them a reason to continue patronizing your brand.

Remember, a simple acknowledgment goes a long way. The more attention you give to your customers, the more support and loyalty they will give you. Plus, it’s a great way to get to know your customers.

Now Its Your Turn

In whatever situation, going that extra mile will really pay off. Let go of the traditional way of building customer relationships. There are so many unique and interesting ways to keep customers happy with your brand.

Start with earning their trust so you can guarantee that you will have people to support your products, long-term. Respect them, reward them, and communicate with them so they know that they are well appreciated and acknowledged.

An improved business brand through healthy customer relationships understand that regional variances provide international marketers opportunities, earned media source remains most credible, improved relevance when it comes to advertising still grows, and confidence in mobile and online advertising continue to increase according to Nielsen.