Customers are the lifeblood of your company – but are you prioritising them enough?
You might think ‘yes, of course’ – but are you really? It’s easy to lose focus on clients, after all, with so many conflicting day to day priorities.
And you shouldn’t…
So how can you ensure your team understand this – and everything possible is done to develop the right practices?
Communication
Good communication is essential in business – and that means having effective two way conversations. Make sure customers are fully aware of the benefits of your product or service – and always listen to what they tell you.
And make sure you use the best channels to reach your target market and the right language to engage people.
Exceed expectations
As a base line, you should always say what you mean and do as you say, when you run any kind of business. And it’s important that you never anyone down – so always return that call when you say you will.
Ask for feedback
Regular customer feedback is essential for building good relationships and there are lots of channels you can use to do this.
So stay on top of social media comments and queries effectively – and provide lots of ways for people to reach you. Offer opportunities for feedback too – including on your website and in store.
Show appreciation
Ensure your team provides polite, friendly service – and consider starting loyalty or other reward schemes. Just one negative interaction can turn a customer away from your business, after all, which is a wasted opportunity. Whereas a great experience helps build brand and loyalty – and repeat business – which is so important.
What is CRM and how can it help?
You might have heard the term CRM but not really understand what it means – or how it could help you.. It stands for Customer Relations Management and it’s proving increasingly important and popular.
It’s all about developing a company-wide strategy to improve revenues, profitability, reduce costs. And, of course, increase customer loyalty. In essence, it’s about putting the customer first and trying to see every transaction with your business through their eyes.
CRM strategies, solutions and software
Many companies are now developing their own CRM strategy to help them embed these principles in their business. And there are some great CRM software solutions available, like Kunversion, which can help turn these principles into practice.
They can help bring together information from different departments in your company, for example, to give a holistic view of each customer.
It allows employees in your team, perhaps in sales and marketing, to make more informed decisions – based on real time information. It also helps those teams to develop better business and marketing plans and strategies – and build strong campaigns.
Why is CRM so important?
Put simply, it helps you both retain existing customers – and find new ones – and it’s a growing area. A report by Gartner found that CRM software is now overtaking database management systems as the most popular business IT solution.
This is because, in today’s competitive market, it’s increasingly hard to maintain customer loyalty. And you really need to understand people’s needs and requirements to be able to do that.
How else can CRM help you?
We’ve already discussed CRM’s role in understanding your customer and helping your sales and marketing team – but how else can it help your business?
It can help protect your customer data
Perhaps, at the moment, you deal with customer data in a way that’s not really effective, secure or aligned. If you’re honest.
You could be risking the loss of critical business data and key opportunities – or fall foul of data protection requirements this way. But by consolidating data, you maximise its potential across different departments and keep it secure – on one CRM system.
Your data is more accessible
Let’s face it, these days fewer and fewer teams are based together or work a traditional 9-5 from one work base. The systems you and your company use need to reflect that for you to be effective.
Maybe the nature of your business means that your teams are constantly on the road or out visiting clients. It’s so much easier for them to be able to function effectively if they can still access valuable data.
For example, real estate agents find this technology invaluable – particularly via an app or a cloud CRM – which is increasingly popular. It means they can use any given device with a web connection to get updates that are in real-time – and are completely secure and accessible – 24 hours a day.
CRM gives a more complete view of your customer
CRMs systems provide a holistic impression of every customer you interact with – which is, of course, incredibly important Each time someone interacts with you, by phone, email, etc it provides data which helps them receive a more personalised experience.
CRM can be customizable to your business
Businesses come in different shapes and sizes and it’s always important to look for tailored solutions. CRM software can be modified to help you achieve the things that are most critical to your business.
CRM Is not just for sales
It’s important to point out, at this stage, that CRM has many more possibilities than just sales – essential as they are. Having all of your information managed in one place means that the way you deal with a range of issues including managing contacts and orders can be transformed.
CRM can be a valuable asset right across your business and can also help with tasks as diverse as internal communication, budgeting, retention and more.
It helps you keep ahead of competitors
No-one wants to be aggressive in business, but you do need to stay ahead of what competitors are doing. Maximising sales and revenue is what keeps both you and your staff employed, after all. CRM can help you improve your market share, forecast accurately and understand how your products or services could meet customer need.
In conclusion
We hope this post has given you some valuable insight into how building good relationships can convert customers. And how different elements, including CRM, can help you achieve that. At the end of the day, it’s about your own personal approach and the potential of technology.
