Communication and consistency are key to maintain customer relationships.

 
It is important to get to know your customers on an emotional level, because customers at the end of the day are people and people buy with their hearts. So, the actual product or service you’re selling is not as important as you may think.

Simon Sinek said it best in one of the most viewed ever TED-talks:

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”

Businesses managing to get closer to their customers are really good at a few things:

• They get to know and recognize them as people and not as consumers.
• They know how to connect with each and every one of them individually
• They learn how to earn their trust constantly all the time.

 
These things may seem simple, but they are not as easy as they sound.

Check out below 4 tips to help you warm up your customer relationships.

Optimize customer relationships with tech

With the help of a CRM which uses automatic workflows such as reminding you every 3 months to get in contact with your customers. By being consistent in your communication with them, you gain rapport and earn their trust. They will start feeling like you are reliable and feel like they can come to you if they have any concerns.

Don’t yet have a CRM? Book a free trial or demo here!

Connect with the entire team

Maintaining a relationship with a customer doesn’t only mean only nurturing the relationship with the CEO or Manager. You have to retain rapport with every member of the team. It only takes one bad experience with a member of the team to make them look for service somewhere else.

Positive reinforcements

Make it clear to your customer that they’ve made a positive impact on your life/in your business

Make them feel valued with positive reinforcements such as a reward program or simply an email thanking them for their business. This not only makes them feel happy and valued, it also impacts your business in a positive way.
Why not hand-write letters every now and then? It creates a personal touch to your standard digital communication and shows you put down time and effort.

Be available

As a business dealing with people, you need to have a user friendly support which is easy to access. Be available for your clientele on different channels so they don’t have to actively search for a way to contact you.
When a customer gets in contact with you, it’s important to listen and create the space for them to speak their mind. This will make them feel validated and valued.
Visit them regularly, if not in person, video conference or schedule a phone call.
Maintaining great relationships is not only for salespeople. It goes for any department in your business whether you’re in customer service, sales, project management or marketing.