Improving Customer Relationships | The Key to Your Company's Success

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7/04/23

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Written by

Rémi

SOyez vigiliCustomer relations: a term that has become popular over the last two decades, taking over the professional world! Originally a marketing concept, it now touches all the functions of a company to the point of being at the heart of our strategy. Today, improving customer relations has become an essential factor of success.

"We view our customers as guests at a party where we are the hosts. It's our job to make their experience a little better every day."

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

Regardless of the size of the company, the importance of maintaining a good relationship with its customers is no longer in question. But what is really this relationship between a company and its customers and how do they influence the development of the company?

Improve customer relations?

Let's take a look at this term for a moment if you don't mind. Customer Relationship encompasses all the exchanges and interactions between the company and its customer. This implies all the tasks in interaction with its target: from prospecting to the piloting of missions, passing of course by the after-sales service.

This is the definition of all actions aimed at increasing sales by creating and following up a relationship with its customers. In order to implement the customer relationship, it is necessary to have a model management, that is to say to set up tools intended to capture, treat and analyze the desires and the expectations relating to the customers and prospects with an aim of retaining them and of satisfying them by offering them or proposing services answering their need(s).

An improvement of the customer relationship is essential because it brings a technological dimension and data to improve the knowledge of the clientele as well as that of the prospects allowing to adapt the communication, the products and the services to answer at most the needs and desires of the latter.

Lay the foundations of your customer relationship

Know your customers well

For a company, knowing its customers is essential to build a relationship with them. The first step is to realize that consumers are all different. The buying process, the ways of consuming etc. are specific to each one.

There are several questions to ask in order to get to know them better:

  • What are their basic needs?
  • What are their buying paths?
  • Does the service provided meet their expectations?
  • What do they think of the brand?
  • How did they hear about the brand?

It is therefore essential to have certain personal information such as their profiles, their interests and their vision of the brand, i.e. their needs or their expectations concerning the product. This requires the collection of information through different means and channels.

In this respect, it will be necessary to study their behavior towards the company firstly through the web. The behavior of customers on the web is very varied, but they do not hesitate to give their opinions about products or solutions adopted or about the company itself.

"Your most dissatisfied customers are your greatest source of learning."
Bill Gates

Gathering opinions for a better relationship

What is better than a customer review, whether positive or negative, to become aware of your strengths and weaknesses? How to react to a negative feedback? Listen to your customers and take the time to answer them. Negative feedback allows you to become aware of the weaknesses of your business. Use them to improve your services and increase your chances of retaining your customers.

Be careful! There are many sites and forums where you can find reviews about you. Keep an eye on what is said about your company and your products/services. It is thanks to the feedback of customers that you can improve your services.

In addition to websites and forums, many reviews are circulating on social networks. It is essential that you have a directory of all the platforms on which it is possible to find reviews about you. This will allow you to keep an eye on what is being said about you, giving you the opportunity to respond and of course to adapt your offers.

Your website is another essential element to better understand the behavior of your customers and prospects in order to adapt your marketing and thus improve customer relations. Among the website analysis tools, the best known and most complete is without a doubt Google Analytics. You will be able to retrieve : Session duration, a top of the most visited pages or the bounce rate. The tool also allows you to retrieve demographic information on your visitors allowing you to better know them and therefore set up the appropriate relationship.

Opt for customization

Providing your customers with a personalized experience that they will remember requires that you know them. The days of sending mass emails to your entire address book are over! Send relevant content that is likely to address your customers' issues and wishes. You will have all the more chance to attract their attention! You will increase your open rate and therefore your visibility by communicating effectively.

The challenges of a good customer relationship

In addition to personalization, a successful customer relationship requires an effective response to customer requests. Every day, many consumers ask brands for advice or make a complaint. The digitalization and the development of communication means have made consumers more demanding. With the immediacy offered by the internet, consumers expect quick and efficient answers from customer services.

To meet these requirements, the implementation of an omnichannel strategy is essential. It is necessary to think of the strategy in a global way. Companies must optimize the customer experience by offering communication channels adapted to the profile of their customers. The use of a CRM tool, Customer Relationship Management, is essential to increase the efficiency of customer services.

The customer at the heart of the company

"The more you engage your customers, the more understandable things become and the easier it becomes to determine what you need to do."
John Russel, former VP Harley Davidson

This quote from the former Vice President of Harley Davidson, on the place and importance of the customer in the company, highlights the principle that satisfaction is the essence of a business. It is therefore necessary to concentrate the efforts of all employees to work together in a strategy centered around the customer.

Obtaining the trust of your consumers by creating a proximity, allows you to understand them better and to make them understand you better, which is essential to meet their expectations in a more relevant way and thus increase their satisfaction so as to make them loyal and committed customers.

The customer-centric strategy

According to a Deloitte & Touche study, 60% of companies that have opted for a customer-centric strategy are more profitable than those with a standard strategy. In addition to being profitable, adopting such a strategy gives more meaning to the work of all employees who act together to improve customer relations.

In other words...

Improving customer relations consists in listening to expectations while being committed to customer satisfaction. The latter is essential for the development of a company, because it is a real challenge. It is at this level that the key to a company's success lies.

A solution that supports you

Agendize is the most complete online appointment scheduling solution on the market. Presented in the form of a toolbox, it offers its users a range of tools to support them in their daily customer relationship management. Whether you are a small business or a major corporation, the solution adapts to your needs.

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