Attracting new customers is a challenge, but retaining them can be even more challenging. Building a long-term relationship is important for retaining your customers. This goes much further than just selling. Why is it so important to maintain customer relationships? How do you approach it? And what should you not do? We will tell you all about it, including a number of tips to positively surprise your customers.
The customer journey: See, Think, Do, Care
Everyone now knows the term ‘customer journey’. A well-known model to describe this customer journey is the ‘See-Think-Do-Care model with the following phases:
- See: the customer is aware of a need or problem, but is not yet specifically looking for solutions.
- Think: the customer actively looks for information about possible solutions to his problem.
- Do: the customer decides to make a purchase.
- Care: the company ensures that the customer remains connected to the company in a positive way.
This article is mainly about the ‘Care’ phase. In practice, companies sometimes skip this step or pay much more attention to the first steps. While it is indeed a very important phase.
Why strengthen the customer relationship?
Why is strengthening the customer relationship so important? We list the advantages:
- Greater customer satisfaction: Customers feel valued and understood by the company.
- More customer loyalty: It ensures greater customer loyalty and they are therefore more likely to come back for repeat purchases.
- Word-of-mouth advertising: Satisfied customers share their positive experiences with others, which can attract new customers.
- Getting feedback about your products/services: It encourages open communication and gives you the opportunity to ask your customers questions about your products or services.
- Competitive advantage: Satisfied and loyal customers are less likely to switch to a competitor.
Customer loyalty: examples of what not to do
Enough reasons to get started on strengthening customer relationships, but there are (unfortunately) plenty of examples of how not to do it. For example, consider the following examples:
- Not hearing from you after purchase: Without follow-up, you give customers the feeling that they are not important and there is a good chance that they will forget about you.
- Spamming: Sending excessive emails or repeatedly contacting without relevance leads to irritation and loss of customer confidence.
- Impersonal communication: If you send generic messages and do not approach your customers personally, this causes a lack of involvement and interest.
- Not listening to your customers: Ignoring feedback is a missed opportunity and causes the loss of customer loyalty.
- Not being transparent: Withholding important information or not communicating honestly about products or services leads to distrust and loss of credibility.
- Failure to handle a complaint properly: Failure to handle a complaint adequately can lead to dissatisfaction and the loss of customers, as they feel that they are not being taken seriously.
Strengthening customer relationships: this is how you approach it
Now you know what not to do, but how do you ensure good customer loyalty? If you follow the actions below, you are already taking some good steps.
1. Use CRM
A good CRM, or Customer Relationship Management system, is essential to maintain customer relationships. With the help of this tool it is possible to track and organize all interactions with your customers, giving you more insight into their needs, preferences and behaviour.
2. Ask for feedback after purchase
When you ask your customers questions after purchase, you show that you value their opinions and are willing to listen and improve. It also provides you with valuable insights for improving your products, services and processes.
3. Provide good customer service
Providing excellent customer service is essential to strengthening customer relationships. Make sure your customers can easily contact you if they have questions and respond quickly to questions and complaints. Read the article with even more smart ways for good customer service.
4. Contact us regularly as personally as possible
From an expert point, you should reach out 7 to 9 times a year. By regularly contacting your customers you show that you appreciate them. You build trust and strengthen the bond with your customers.
5. Organize an open day
An open day gives you the opportunity to give customers a look behind the scenes and speak to them in a different setting. Show where you excel and what you have to offer. Read more tips in the article about organizing an event.
6. Reward customer loyalty
There are various options to reward customer loyalty. Consider offering a loyalty program with rewards, discounts or exclusive events for loyal customers. This encourages repeat purchases and also shows customers that you appreciate their loyalty.
7. Say sorry in an original way
If something unexpectedly goes wrong, show sincere regret and offer an original excuse to make it right. This shows that you take the customer seriously and are willing to make extra efforts to guarantee the satisfaction of your customers.
Other tips: positively surprise your customers
Surprising customers can enhance their positive experiences with your brand and encourage positive word of mouth. But how do you surprise your customers?
- Give something extra with the purchase: Think of a handwritten note or a nice gadget with a logo.
- Organize a fun outing: Go golfing together or visit a sports match.
- Send them an exclusive offer: An interesting offer for a product that is attractive to the customer.
- Give them a personal business gift: Think of printed chocolate or a notebook with a personalized label.
- Surprise them with a summer package: Even more original than a Christmas package: the summer package. Fill a beach bag or cooler bag with fun summer promotional products.
Hope this inspired you to help strengthen your customer relationships. We are happy to help you find a personal promotional gift that suits your company and your customers.