Business owners are busy. With everything else you have to do, your business’s communications aren’t always your top priority.
On the other hand, the core of every company is its customer relations. Dedicating resources to communicating with your customers is an investment in the future success of your business.
Not every business can hire an expert marketing or social media consultant; however, every business owner can improve their customer communication. Here are five simple ways to do so.
1. Reassess your business priorities
The first step in improving customer communication is to prioritize it. Remember that customer communication includes everything from the phone lines to emails and even social media. To start, draft some guidelines that outline how your business communicates with its customers. Examples include
- Return all customer calls within 24 hours.
- Follow up after every interaction with a customer satisfaction survey.
- Reply to all customer emails within one business day.
Try to involve your employees in the establishment and implementation of these guidelines. If employees play a role in writing the guidelines, they are more likely to adhere to them.
2. Use templates
Your business might produce the same types of writing over and over again, such as
- Product descriptions
- Sales proposals
- Inventory listings
Why not use a template?
You could simply use an old document as the basis for the next one. But while this saves time, it’s not necessarily the best approach.
You should carefully consider what is in the document and how it is formatted. Turn this old document into a template. Customers will get used to seeing the information in a certain way, giving them a consistent experience with your business. This will help foster a relationship.
3. Fix your email
Too many businesses send out mass emails generated by robots or, at the very least, by humans who aren’t invested in the customer experience.
Yes, you’re busy, but it doesn’t take a lot of time to begin your email with a proper greeting and close it with a proper ending. Spend time making sure your emails show that you care about your customers. This includes correcting typos and ensuring grammatical accuracy. Proofread before you send.
4. Think about your website
So many customers find their services today using the internet. Make sure your website is an integral part of your sales process. The layout should be consumer friendly. This means
- Grabbing customers’ attention with an image
- Communicating the purpose of your product or service clearly
- Using menus that are easy to navigate
- Demonstrating how your product or service meets the needs of the customer
Why not go the extra mile with a customer survey? See what your customers think about the website. This will set you apart from the competition.
5. Take advantage of social media
Social media plays a quintessential role in every business today, so your business should take advantage of it. Popular platforms include
- SnapChat
It doesn’t take much effort to create a page for your business. The purpose of social media is to serve customers. While it’s a great way to communicate promotions and sales, you should share other information with your customers as well. Make them feel like a part of your company with links to important information, images and videos of the business, and even day-to-day business activities. Create value for your customers with your social media platform, and they will keep coming back.
Improve your communication
As a business owner, you should invest both time and energy in improving your business’s relationship with its customers. You may not have a lot of free time or extra energy, but your relationship with your customers makes the difference between success and failure. Businesses that communicate well with their customers stand out from the crowd and generate long-term loyalty with their customer base. It all starts with putting customer communication at the top of the business’s priority list.
Photo by bruce mars from Pexels
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