What Are the Most Effective Ways for Your Business to Build a Strong Customer Relationship

What can ruin your business? Is it not being present on social media? Not launching a new product every few months? What about a badly designed website? While all of this can have a negative impact on your brand, one thing that can truly affect it is not building a customer relationship.

Consumers know what they want. If a business doesn’t cater to their needs, off they go to another vendor who will give them a satisfactory experience. Customers approach your brand because of products or services, but they stay loyal because of the way you treat them.

Luckily, however, most brands know how important it is to focus on customer experience. In fact, 88% of companies now prioritize it. To directly quote one Forbes article, you should own your customer to own your brand!

So, improving relationships with your customers is a must. What can you do to ensure your brand delivers on this? We’ll answer that question in today’s post!

The importance of building customer relationship

It’s easy to differentiate between a good and bad customer service experience. The former makes you want to buy from the same brand over and over again. The latter, however, leaves you feeling unsatisfied and unappreciated.

As a business owner, you must understand the importance of customers to your brand. They are the reason your company can thrive. This is precisely why you must keep them satisfied.

Building customer relationships should be your top priority for the following reasons:

1. Increased sales — Having a close relationship with customers will increase sales. When you speak directly to consumers, you will stay on their radar. Whenever they need a product or service you offer, your company will be their first option.
2. Positive word of mouth — It’s no secret that customers recommend your company when they are happy with your service. Positive word of mouth is the best form of advertising you can have. 90% of customers are much more likely to trust a recommended brand. On the other hand, 26% of people will avoid a company if their closed ones have a negative experience with it.
3. Secured customer base — Today’s business world is a competitive place which is why you must have a secured customer base. These are consumers that will buy from you no matter what. The only prerequisite is to have a strong customer relationship with them.

Tips on building customer relationships

Businesses have to invest in customer relationships. If they don’t, they will lose to competitors who are eager to “steal” their buyers. Here is why companies focus on customers:

• 84% of companies that want to improve customer experience report an increase in their revenue
• Loyal customers are five times more likely to purchase again from the same brand
• American consumers are willing to pay 17% more to buy from a company with a reputation for great service

Customers will take their business elsewhere if you treat them like walking wallets. Show them you care by following the below tips.

Provide excellent customer service

Customer support agents act as the first point of contact. They represent your brand and their behavior reflects that of your company. If they aren’t approachable, friendly or kind, your consumers will associate that behavior to your brand. Of course, no one wants to buy from a company that leaves this kind of impression.

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You should invest in your customer service tools to provide the best possible experience. Apps like Nextiva facilitate business communication. They make team collaboration much easier and ensure you provide top-notch customer service with options like call recording and call assignments.

Here is why customer service software is a good investment:

• 90% of Americans say customer service is a factor in deciding where to purchase from
• 58% of consumers will switch companies due to poor customer service
• 93% of customers are likely to purchase again from the same brand if it offers excellent customer support

Don’t disregard customer service! Your team can impact a consumer’s decision whether or not to buy from you again.

Emphasize customer experience

Building strong customer relationships includes prioritizing customer experience. According to research, superior customer experience generates 5.7 times more revenue.

When you establish strong relationships with consumers you get these benefits:

• Loyalty and trust
• Retention
• Recommendations

The above three points can impact your revenue. If customers are loyal, they are more likely to recommend your brand. New potential customers will come running to you!

Image Source: The Body Shop

If consumers feel no other brand can offer the experience you can, you’ll increase customer retention. How can you prioritize customer experience? Let’s see:

1. Understand your customers — Every successful business tries to get inside the minds of their customers. What do they need? What are their issues? What do they want from your relationship? If you understand your consumers, you’re one step closer to building customer relationships.
2. Create a connection — Use different tools like social media to show your commitment to consumers. It’s one thing to tell everyone you’re trustworthy, but it’s completely another to actually demonstrate it to them. If they feel they can trust you, customers will create a connection with your brand.
3. Always improve your experience — Accept and analyze every feedback you receive. Comments customers leave tell you which areas need improvement, which is essential to building customer relationships.

Excellent customer experience is what will make a person become a returning buyer!

Make personalized content

The world of content marketing is a crowded place. It’s getting harder to stand out with so many brands vying for consumers’ attention. You can draw your target audience to your company by personalizing your content.

Personalized content relies on specific information about customers to create a unique experience. Based on this data, you know who is visiting your website or social media profiles, or blog. Your visitors will be broken down into various categories, including sex, age, location and interest.

Research shows that personalization is what buyers want. Around 90% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that offer discounts and recommendations relevant to them. Target your website visitor’s interests to get to know them!

Offer value to consumers

Creating value is important because it can improve your brand’s reputation, increase profits and attract more consumers. When you make valuable content, your customer’s trust in your brand will go through the roof!

Also, customers need motivation to take a look at your content. If they visit websites or scroll down their social media feeds, they see various brands vying for their attention. The content that catches their eye is the one that promises value and education.

You can create value by:

1. Educating customers — You can use various marketing tactics to draw customers. However, what will make them listen is content that educates them. You can publish content that informs them about your products or services. That content can let them know how your brand can solve a specific problem they have.
2. Building communities — Communities gather individuals who are passionate about your brand. When customers feel like a part of your community, they become your advocates. They will do what it takes to get other people to join that community!
3. Taking every comment on board — Who are your products or solutions aimed at? Customers! That is why you should listen to what they have to say. Perhaps they have an interesting proposition for a product your brand can produce. They know what they want and your brand can give that to them!

When you have values and are customer oriented, you can create engaging social media video ads to promote your brand. Those who care about authentic companies will recognize your efforts. It won’t take you long to move them down the sales funnel after that.

So, don’t waste your efforts on useless content. Brainstorm ideas that ensure you have something of essence to offer to your customers!

Post user-generated content

Authentic brand experiences are more memorable when they come from customers themselves. People are more likely to believe fellow consumers than brands. That’s why user-generated content (UGC) is a powerful tool.

UGC is any form of content that has been created by customers and posted on the internet or social media. A huge volume of UGC can help brands gain social proof and engage new audiences.

With UGC, customers share their experiences with a business. They focus on products or services and how they have helped them solve a specific problem. These are not sponsored posts—they are published by ordinary people who want to share their brand stories.

It’s easier to trust this type of content because it’s spontaneous and made by real customers. You can show off your own user-generated content with your target audience. This will help you build authentic connections with them.

Post them on social media, particularly Instagram. When a user tags you in a post, you can reshare it with your followers. Once they hear from a regular customer, they will move down the sales funnel easily.

Establish presence on multiple channels

Technology has advanced so much that businesses can now interact with their customers in various ways. There are live chats, social media platforms, live streams and Q&A sessions.

Image Source: Nordeus

Being present on multiple channels is a must. Strong customer relationships rely on active communication. This means customers should be able to contact you whenever they want.

If they want to send a PM on Instagram, they should have that option. If they are more comfortable with calling, your website should clearly state a customer support phone number.

Of course, you can always state which channel is your preferred communication method. This can be:

• Email
• Phone
• Live chat software
• Social media
• Other forms of communication

This will make life easier for your customers. When they have a problem, they will use your preferred form to get a response as soon as possible.

Just keep in mind that the key to building customer relationships is keeping your finger on the pulse. In other words, it’s better to analyze your target audience to determine their preferences. Finding out how they like to interact with your brand can save you a lot of wasted time!

Ask for feedback

Gather as much feedback as you can and act on it! Your customers leave feedback for a reason. Disregarding what they have to say can paint a bad picture about your brand. You’ll come across as disinterested and unapproachable.

Building customer relationships is manageable if you listen to your customers. Young consumers are 99% more likely to rely on online reviews than older generations. If they don’t see any reviews, they are more likely to avoid your brand. We’re sure you don’t want that.

Invite your customers to leave feedback. Make every review visible. If you do, you’ll appear trustworthy. You don’t have anything to hide, so customers won’t be skeptical about your brand.

Show appreciation

Returning customers need some incentives to continue buying from your business. You can reward them with a loyalty program.

The most common loyalty programs enable customers to accumulate points through sales. Buyers earn points after every transaction. They can redeem them for a reward after they earn a certain number of points.

Image Source: Sephora

For instance, they can receive a discount on their next purchase or a free product. Whatever that reward is, it can encourage customers to make a repeat purchase.

To make the process easier, hand out reward cards or create a loyalty program app. Both of these two options will track the earned points, ensuring there’s no room for confusion.

Strong customer relationships boost your brand’s image

A brand that cares about its customers is likely to stand out. Consumers want to spend their hard-earned money where they feel appreciated. Failing to show them you care will result in their dissatisfaction. What will dissatisfaction bring? Another lost customer!

Next time you are talking about priorities with your team, mention customer relationships. Go over the tips we mentioned in our article as a starting point. It won’t take you long to see how a strong bond with customers can transform your business!