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MANAGEMENT
Building Customer Relationships
Building relationships with your customers is the cornerstone of all businesses. Successful owner/managers know that beyond getting the right job or producing the right product, value-added customer service is the means to developing a loyal customer base.
Long after the initial sale, a company should continue to build trust and maintain a customer service relationship. While special promotions, newsletters, direct mail and other marketing methods are all excellent ways to maintain communication with customers, do not forget the importance of one-on-one contact by phone and in person.
Here are some tips for providing the value-added customer contact that can improve customer retention and increase your company's revenue.
Show Your Company Cares Customers appreciate suppliers who show they understand and care about their business and can anticipate their needs. A telephone call to discuss a new product or service that would benefit their business or to inform them about special discounts lets them know that you are interested in helping them make their business succeed.
Do some preliminary work and be prepared to ask questions to find out more about the customer's situation. While you know that your company's products or services can add value, you need to convince your customers that your company's offerings can make a difference. Of course, you and your representatives must be able to demonstrate a solid knowledge of the products or services you offer as well as demonstrate your knowledge of your customer's business.
Analyze the Customer's Needs Analyze your customer's needs so that you are able to provide a synopsis of the specific benefits of your products or services in terms of their needs. Remember that your customers know what they want to achieve, but they may not know how your company's products or services can help them realize these goals.
Listen to the Customer Research, ask questions and above all, listen to the customer. Look for opportunities to point out additional ways your products or services can help your customers improve their productivity, service or sales. For instance, your product solution may be a bar code scanner to encode inventory as it is put on the shelf or removed for sale but the long-term need may require ideas for setting up the stockroom, retrieving inventory or minimizing access to prevent theft.
Focus on the Customer's Business When you call customers or take them for lunch, focus your discussion on the customer's business.
Ask about recent developments and plans for the future. Say, for example, a customer is planning to expand premises or move into larger premises. If your company sells workstations, software solutions or hardware , or provides installation services, you have an opportunity to show how you can help the customer make a smooth transition. As well as selling products or services that they require, you may be able to tell them about products or services they may not have considered or identify areas of potential difficulty that your company can help them address.
Keep Pace with Changes Keep pace with the changes in your customer's technology, market and management strategies. Be prepared to provide them with the right information at the right time as to how your products or services can help them.
Be Proactive Customers want more than simple solutions. In our complex world, customers value companies that take the time to understand their vision and help them achieve their long-term goals. Take time to have one-on-one discussions with your customers so you are better prepared to show them how your company can help them improve processes, lower costs, or deliver a better product or service.
Demonstrating your genuine and responsive interest in your customers' current and future business operations will help you build customer loyalty and add to your bottom line.
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