by Haris Quintana
While initially, customers might only be interested in choosing the products and services that best cater to their needs, that’s not the only reason they tend to stick with a company. They may not admit it, but an emotional connection can keep them firm, even when competitors make a very tempting offer. What’s the best way to make that connection? Making your customers and clients feel a little special, of course. Here are a few ways to do just that.
Give a little thanks
Sure, it might sound like little more than common courtesy, but don’t underestimate how rare it can be that customers are thanked. More importantly, it’s rare that they believe the sentiment behind the gesture. To make sure that they believe yours, you can make it a little more personal, such as throwing a treat in with deliveries of personally handwriting thank you notes.
Reward their loyalty
If you have customers who come back time and time again, then you should work hard to keep them coming back. They represent the portion of your market that offers the highest lifetime value. As such, you can put in place either a formal or informal loyalty system that sees you rewarding them with discounts and exclusives. Not only does it help them feel appreciated by the business, but it incentivizes further spending, still, working directly in your favor.
Know who they are
Of course, the more customers and clients you have, the harder it will be for any individual salesperson or support team member to know even all the individuals they’re responsible for. However, if you’re able to quickly retrieve and remember details of past conversations and steps taken with customers via the help of contact management software, you can make them feel remembered. Customers appreciate being treated as individuals, and having specific data on them available helps you do that.
Invest time and money in customer service
If you’re able to answer your customer’s concerns and questions promptly and satisfactorily, then you’re going to be able to retain and even convert those who might otherwise not go through with a purchase. Customers can base their entire notion of whether or not your business respects them based on customer service interactions. Do not skimp when it comes to training or incentivizing the team who works on it.
Take and act on their feedback
More important than feeling acknowledged is feeling heard. If your customers have opinions, you should be implementing a feedback system to make sure that you know what those are. You can even take some of the most common feedback and publish a case study on what you’re doing to address it and the outcome of addressing it. You have to put the work in to make customers feel respected and seen, but it’s important.
Of course, making your customers feel special isn’t all there is to retention. Keeping up the quality of your products and services should be priority number one, but great customer relationships should easily be priority number two.
