Do you contact your customers only when it’s time for selling? How’s that working out for you? (Not very good, obviously.) Here are five simple tips to improve your customer relationships and sales processes.

Thanks to our connected lifestyle it’s more or less raining personalized offers every hour.
And if the algorithms and precise marketing automation flows don’t capture the consumers, hot offers are just a google search away.

In short – the competition for your potential and current customers is tougher than ever.

In order to stand out from the crowd, a good relationship with your customers is key. But how do you build it? How do you get your customers to associate your brand with care?
And how can you utilize your CRM-software as a tool in your workplace?

Here are 5 tips to start with in order to start building first-class customer relationships.

1. Schedule calls

   What you do in aftersales is just as significant as what you do during a sale. A simple trick is to schedule calls, so you get reminders when it’s time to pick up the phone for a check-in.
   An example of this could be that you after 6 months after a car sale call the customer to check in on how it runs and feels. The aim here is to make sure the customer doing well. By showing that you actually genuinely care about how your customer is doing (which you should), you’re building and growing a warm and trusting relationship which is crucial when the day come where the customer is due a change of vehicle.

2. Say happy birthday!

   Everyone gets a smile on their face when you remember their birthday. Why not throw them a message on their name day too! It’s a very small effort to send a message on their birthday or name day and why not even offer a small discount? It’s the little things that count! Even better is if you keep track of what the customers like and thus be able to give a discount aimed towards that. Perhaps a product they have been eyeing for a while but have not taken the leap of faith and purchased yet.

   Make sure you are reachable in different ways, however, don’t bite off more than you can chew.

3. Be available

   If you can’t be reached, you’ll have a hard time retaining your customers. A good thing to keep in mind is that different people prefer different methods of communication. Some people prefer a DM on Instagram while another prefers a quick respond over the phone. Make sure you are reachable in different ways, however, don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you set up accounts on several different social media platforms, make sure that you have a representative in charge of incoming queries on each account. A social media profile that signals activity but doesn’t respond to queries will not build any relationships on its own – au contraire.

4. Integrate channels and devices

   Since the customers are on the move and you can integrate through many different channels – not only social media but also through email, websites and blogs – you should be aware how to integrate though the entire customer journey. Perhaps the customer starts their journey through Facebook and later decides to call you. If you have integrated data from the different channels with each other and made sure that all necessary information is logged and easy to understand for your staff, the customer doesn’t have to start again from square one. It’s nicer and more practical for the customer, and you get a better opportunity to suggest a customized offer.

   There may be small details which determine whether or not a customer will choose you instead of someone else

5. Personal touch

   Compare customer relationships with friendships – more often than not we hang with people we like. The same applies when deciding on companies. There may be small details which determine whether or not a customer will choose you instead of someone else – and vice versa. One way to get people to like your business is daring to be a little personal (obviously not inappropriate). Humor is appreciated by most people and an emoji here and there usually lightens the mood. Just make sure you don’t set the cheery tone as default just because you want to be perceived as easy-going, in some instances, it’s more appropriate to have a more stern tone.