six golden rules for successfully connecting with your customers
TRANSCRIPT
Six golden rules for successfully connecting with your customers
By Survmetrics
Connecting is understanding your customers, and this is the key to creating powerful relationships in the long run
Have you ever felt very connected and happy with the experience that you had with some brand? When was the last time you recommended a product because you were really satisfied? Why are some customers more loyal to some brands than others?
Currently, competitiveness is more linked to the connection and commitment with customers over other factors because the influence of customers to recommend or discredit a brand is huge.
Many of the most successful companies are concentrating their efforts to engage and understand their customers. This is the new way to approach and create loyalty, by giving a complete user experience.
But, what are the best strategies to create a real approach? A lot of ways exist to connect with customers; however, here are 6 golden rules that you should remember.
Customers always have something to say. At the end, your company was created to satisfy a specific need or desire of a determined population segment. Thus, they are the best source of information to identify new needs and expectations, so that you can be proactive and be able to anticipate changes in the market.
1.REALLY LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
But it is important that you really listen them. A big mistake that many companies make is not valuing the opinion of users. No matter if the opinion is good or bad, you must learn to listen to them and create an atmosphere of trust for stimulating the communication. When you listen to your customers, you will be surprised about the amount of information and feedback that they have for you.
A good strategy to have communication with your customers is surveys. Surveys allow you to identify your customers’ needs. Through surveys, you can gather information directly from users about they expect or need. So, once you have the information, you can find the appropriate way to satisfy them.
Responsibility is a value that generates confidence in the company. All companies respond when everything is fine, but many fail when a problem is happening.
When something is bad, many companies choose not face to their customers. This is a huge mistake because it damages the image of the brand and weakens confidence in the company.
2. BE RESPONSIBLE
Responsibility involves honesty, respect, fairness and responsiveness to your customers. So, you should pay attention to this crucial element. The best alternative is for you to prepare your customer service representatives - who have direct contact with the users - to know what to do in critical cases to be able to give a solution.
Definitely, one of the best ways to keep connected with your customers is social media. Technology has changed the way we communicate with people. Nowadays, men and women spend significant time in social media and for this reason you should seek out your customers in the channels most used by them.
3. KEEP ACTIVE IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a channel that allows you to be in constant communication, through messages, groups, events, posting content, and conversations. It is the modern way to say to your customers: Hey Im here, How can I help you?, All this content is to make your experience easier with us.
So, consider that companies that have greater participation in social networks will be one step ahead in communication with customers. With the experiences shared, they are generating value and trust with their audience.
When a customer comes to your customer support team, he has a problem or doubt about your product, and he waits for you to respond.
How many times have you had a problem with a product and when you contacted the support team, you either never received an answer or sometimes they answered 3 or 4 days later? If you have had an experience like this, you should understand how annoying and frustrating it is.
4. ALWAYS RESPOND TO EACH CUSTOMER
A good practice can be to implement in your company a culture where your team has the goal to respond in a determined amount of time, for example, not to exceed 5 minutes in responding to an email or 1 minute in a chat, etc.
Undoubtedly, when we talk about creating a connection between customer and company, the most involved people are employees. They have direct contact with the customers, and if they are in view of customers, they are the face of the company.
If your employees don’t feel the responsibility that connection implies, they probably will not make an effort to give quality service focused on the user.
5. CREATE A CULTURE FOCUSED ON CUSTOMER SERVICE
Focus efforts and resources on creating a culture oriented to customers. Change the mentality of your employees to do their job by paying attention to customer satisfaction.
• How can you get a culture focussed on customer service?
• Attend quickly to all customers.
• Pay attention to their needs.
• Listen to customers.
• Identify solutions to their problems.
• Be kind.
Lately we hear a lot of companies talk about experiences. This is because currently the sales process is more focused on the shopping experience than on the product.
Technology allows people to be more informed about the variety of products on the market. Nowadays, they have lots of information about products to compare one brand with another, and although the features of products are important, your added value should be in the user experience.
6. SELLING EXPERIENCES, NOT PRODUCTS.
Consumers have changed the way they buy. They are not getting just a product; many times they buy products that they don’t need. What is the reason? They are buying an experience.
So, make the purchasing something unique: add a personal touch to your service, connect emotionally with customers, create content of interest for your users. Think about your product or your brand and make it in a unique, salable experience.
If you want to know more about the use of surveys to keep a good relationship with your customers, you should read Get happy customers, not satisfied customers.
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So if you do marketing, you have to consider including a good survey solution to get better results.
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