There is probably no entrepreneur who does not want long-term customer contacts. Because not only thanks to new customers, but first and foremost through existing regular customers, the company can remain successful and is not put on the sidetrack.
Prerequisite for customer care: customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is often defined as the difference between customers’ expectations and the fulfillment of those expectations. One could also say a target-performance comparison. Customer satisfaction is therefore also an indicator of the quality of the customer relationship. It would be optimal if you exceeded the expectations of your customers. This will create an Opens internal link in current window lasting customer loyalty.
The expectation of a customer is always subjective. One customer attaches great importance to inexpensive products, another customer’s service is most important. What your customers expect from your company also depends on what you communicate externally and what you strive for. Most people don’t expect excellent service from the airline Ryanair, for example, but it has to be “cheap” and “fast”.
A high level of customer satisfaction is an essential prerequisite for customer care. Because if your customers have had bad experiences with you, you will probably lose them permanently. The more satisfied a customer was with you, the easier it will be to persuade them to buy again. In other words: You have to invest less effort in your customer care if you manage to always meet or even exceed the expectations of your customers.
Customer care – the highest priority
Loyalty, i.e. long-term customer contacts, can contribute much more to the business success of a company than any temporary profit. This is why customer relationships must be cultivated on a long-term basis. The principle here is: whoever pays into the relationship account of each individual customer first, before he withdraws from it, is always successful. If you plan all the most important activities for customer care in detail, if you always think in the direction of creating a real customer community step by step, all these measures will pay off in the long run.
The great entrepreneur, Robert Bosch, once said:
“I have always acted according to the principle: It’s better to lose money than trust. The inviolability of my promises, the belief in the value of my goods and in my word have always been more important to me than a temporary gain.”
Every entrepreneur who wants to be successful should take these words seriously – and act accordingly.
Customer care measures
No customers, no success. Every young entrepreneur knows that customers form the basis for the existence of every company. If they don’t like products or services, the start-up project can be completed quickly. But even if customers buy products or services, that doesn’t mean they come back. But what you should really strive for are the existing customers – customers you have chosen, whose confidants you are, who are loyal to you and who recommend you as a brand ambassador. But how do you achieve this type of customer relationship? Which measures serve sustainable customer care? I would like to show you a few possibilities.
By the way: In order to do business with existing customers again and again, which is much easier and also cheaper than constantly acquiring new customers, and to avoid customers migrating to the competition, you should definitely consider the following important and useful measures:
Stay in touch
A good relationship with customers is usually based on a functioning dialogue between the company and its customers. On the one hand, this is about information that you make available to your customers: Whether newsletter, flyer or web presence, try to make interesting information accessible to your customers. This should be prepared in a target-group-oriented way and provide your customers with initial answers to questions. Here it is necessary to find a “good measure of things”, not to send too much and not too little in order not to attract the attention of customers in a negative or even disturbing way. But if you place the right information, this measure always brings with it the feeling of professionalism. You also show your expertise outside of direct customer contact.
But there are always two sides to dialogue. Just as you would like to share your news with customers, your customers have special questions and need your help. Offer your customers solutions and take problems seriously, especially with Opens internal link in current windowCustomer complaints. An open ear always speaks for you and your service – especially if you still offer it to your customers even after the sale.
Collect personal information
Also take care of collecting personal information about your most important business partners: Birthdays, family, hobbies, etc. This will give you the opportunity to keep in touch at a very personal level.
Get in personal contact with the customer
Personal contact is extremely important in the socio-economic structure between your company and the customer, whereby the attribute “personal” is to be taken literally here. In no other way can you experience the wishes and needs of the customer as authentically as in a direct personal conversation. In contrast to the written communication only in the personal contact with the customer also the possibility of scoring by convincing body language and sympathetic occurrence to score.
It is important to meet the customer from person to person and, for example, to remind him personally of important appointments within the framework of the business relationship. This can happen for example by a well arranged Weihnachtsgrußkarte, up to small present to the anniversary of the admission of the business relations. But pay attention to individuality – personal customer care means non-exchangeable, automated greeting cards that flutter into mailboxes in droves every year. At best, a CRM system should remind you of the upcoming appointment. However, you should always write the greeting card by hand, no matter what the occasion. This shows that you value the customer and that the customer is important to you not only for business, but also as a person and does not represent an exchangeable money supplier.
Inform customers about changes and intermediate steps
When you keep your customers informed about changes (new contacts or extension numbers, new products and locations, new distribution channels or export successes), you encourage them to share similar information with you. This will keep you up to date.
If, for example, an important intermediate step has been reached in order processing, do not be afraid to call the customer “spontaneously”. Your customer will certainly be pleased, because he is always sufficiently informed.
Your foreign customers could also draw your attention to changed subsidy opportunities or new export regulations. In this way you show that you do not only want to do current business, but that you also have the customer’s well-being in mind.