For the sustainability of the customer relationship, gifts are also recommended as an indirect advertising measure. On the one hand they serve as reminders to remind the recipient of your brand name, on the other hand promotional gifts are a special way of saying “thank you”.
Because these advertising media are associated very rarely with advertisement, but are considered much more than gifts, which are gladly received. Thus 76% of the Germans say, they would be pleased always about advertising novelties. And 73% of the population are the opinion to get much too rarely advertising novelties, so a study of allbranded
Everybody knows how important it is to say thank you. If this gesture is decorated with a present, it is particularly striking for the target group. This has also a psychological component, because gifts are a symbol for attention, which is brought to customers. If a customer now feels valued in this way, this also triggers positive associations with your company.
Customers are then less inclined to switch to the competition. The use of advertising novelties is possible both with seasonal Events, like Eastern and Christmas, and in anti-cyclical scatters. The only important thing is that you adapt promotional gifts to the occasion and the customer. Also consider that your promotional items – in order to achieve the desired effect – must be of high quality and have a high practical everyday use.
Please do not demand any consideration in return! Only give aways that are meant seriously as a gift.
But don’t thank your friends with annoying gifts or even through constant terror and calls to customers, as the following article impressively describes.
Introducing gifts, bonuses and loyalty cards
If you can introduce a bonus or points program in your company, you will create repetitive business relationships, for example, because collecting points usually encourages regular shopping.
You can also use small gifts to thank your customers for their purchases and for their loyalty. If, for example, you send mugs or USB sticks with your company logo and pay particular attention to your personal touch, you will convey to the customer that you have thought of him individually.
With the introduction of the customer card you make the customer a regular customer and also gain important information about his buying behaviour.
Carry out discount campaigns and special offers
Discount campaigns and special offers are also an effective tool for customer care. They attract customers to your store and encourage them to buy from you or use your services.
Unexpected service
Surprise customers with your service quality. In addition to the actual product, your services as a salesperson, consultant and helper are also decisive for the overall image of your company. Show interest in the customer, even after the purchase. In this way you make it clear that customer satisfaction is also close to your heart. Basically: Keep the communication running! For example, ask the respective customer about their satisfaction after purchasing a product by telephone. You should also always be available in an emergency. In this way, misunderstandings can be avoided from the outset.
The waiting time is also an interesting component here. Try to keep it as low as possible in order to radiate reliability and build trust. Because these are bases for a lasting care of the customer relationship.
Good customer service is worth its weight in gold
Especially in the service sector, long-term customer relationships are extremely desirable and worth the proverbial gold. Marketing specialists have long recognised the importance of customer relations and have even developed a technical term for this entrepreneurial field: CRM. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. If you want to operate CRM correctly, i.e. professionally, it is worth taking on the initial effort for setting up the CRM tool – because it pays off in every respect. CRM is by no means just something for large corporations, but when using the Opens internal link in current window-true measures for customer retention, it can also be used sensibly by small and medium-sized businesses as well as individual entrepreneurs. When it comes to CRM, you are not on your own: There is a lot of Opens internal link in current windowSoftware for customer care.
Customs of the export country
When working with foreign customers, it is important to know the customs of the host country better. Which festivities are celebrated? When are holidays? What do you give on certain occasions? If you make the most of these opportunities, you will be remembered as an attentive business partner.
Involving the customer’s employees
Maintain contacts not only with your actual business partners, but also with their employees – e.g. secretary, assistant, etc. These can be decisive multipliers for future orders.
The customer is king
Maintaining a relationship means being attentive. Today’s customers expect more than just interchangeable loyalty programs: They want to be taken seriously and valued. Attention is the keyword for all measures that serve sustainable and good customer care. Don’t forget that customers are just people. You don’t want to be treated like an invoice number, but expect consideration for long-term loyalty that is original and shows that you care about your customers. This is where the greatest challenge lies: cultivating relationships without exaggeration, but with authenticity. If this is successful, you can count not only on long-term customers, but also on ambassadors for your company who recognise your performance and make recommendations. But don’t let them do everything with you and read my article about this: The Opens internal link in current windowCustomer is king if he behaves like that!
Invite customers
Invite customers to come and see you whenever there is something new, when you organise an event or when you present yourself at a trade fair or the like.
Use CRM software for customer care!
CRM (Consumer Relationship Management) is an important term in corporate planning. It deals with new customer acquisition, Opens internal link in current window of customer loyalty and customer recovery. In CRM, information on all customer contacts is collected and evaluated by CRM software. Special CRM software is already offered by various companies in the IT sector.
The CRM software facilitates the communication process with the customer by ensuring that the relevant information is displayed exactly during the customer contact: what shapes the interests of the respective customer, which projects are currently pending with him and which tasks are to be realized in the future. Because the customer should benefit from this. I have created a large Opens internal link in current windowList with software for customer care, should you have a look!
Remember, customer care is a prerequisite for Opens internal link in current windowcustomer satisfaction and the compelling necessity for your success.
I can only recommend to you to take care of your customers, whether you use the possibility of gifts, call regularly or visit your customers, remains only your business. You will certainly find your own, perhaps even better way to keep your customer base happy.
Now you know a few things and can nurture your customers
In order to care for customers, the right means are needed – those who think of balm for the soul are not so wrong: because only a customer who feels comfortable with you as well as with the product or your service is a satisfied customer. A satisfied customer is a customer who likes to remember you and your company when it comes to placing new orders. Nowadays, good customer service is more important than ever and the decisive argument for otherwise identical or almost identical offers.
From new customer to regular customer and multiplier
The maintenance of customer relationships can take various forms: First, there are the newly acquired customers, for whom you were previously only active within the framework of a small trial order or perhaps not at all. Naturally, you must first convince these customers of yourself and the quality of your products or services.
Secondly, your new customers must be turned into regular customers through good customer care. Thirdly – and this is the most important point – it is important for you to maintain relationships with regular customers who have already been won through targeted customer relationship management and in this way to secure long-term orders. In any case, a good customer relationship is the be-all and end-all for customer satisfaction and is therefore indispensable for the continued existence of your company. As an entrepreneur, you have gained an extreme advantage when the regular customer mentions you positively in the context of word-of-mouth propaganda and recommends you to other potential customers, thus acting as a multiplier.