5 Tips to Connect with Your Customer
Customer connections are the relationships you build and foster with your client outside of your service or product and are crucial in the customer journey. In a 2018 study by Sprout Social, “Around 63% of consumers want brands to connect with them.” This implies that customers don’t just want your service or product solution but also want your entire team to be there for them too.
For instance, they expect your sales team to educate and consult them on how best to use your services or products or your support team to be on standby in case something goes wrong. Customers are always looking for a personal or human connection in the modern competitive business world. They want to feel more than just a number added to your revenue, a case, or a ticket.
Customer connection is crucial as it creates brand loyalty and improves business revenues by improving customer experience. So, here are seven tips to connect with your customers on a more personal level.
5 Tips to Connect With Your Customers
Connecting with your customers isn’t accidental and needs to be intentional and well-planned. Below are five ways to connect with your customers effectively.
Connect With Your Customers Tip #1: Use Their First Name
The first step is ensuring every customer feels unique, as personalized service is better than personalized marketing. So, when a client contacts you, they leave their name, and you should grab the chance to take it. Using a client’s first name adds a personal touch to any conversation, building a great customer connection.
Also, to show exemplary customer service, always respond to your customers promptly and show empathy toward their issues. Understand where they are coming from. In case of negative feedback, contact them directly and suggest a way to resolve the situation. Other simple efforts include personalizing your email templates to sound not so ‘corporate,’ and they could go a long way in helping your clients feel prioritized and valued when looking for assistance.
Connect With Your Customers Tip #2: Listen to Them
It’s important to actively listen to the needs of every customer, whether negative or positive, and remain calm in every situation. Customers can’t be faked by shallow kindness, and everything should be transparent. You can use client meetings to ask positive questions and show genuine interest in your customers’ interests and lives.
Customers always want their issues solved smoothly and quickly; you can wow them by achieving this. Ensure you have a stellar resolution and communication team to listen to customer feedback and reviews and use the information to shape your business. Generally, your customers are your revenue source and listening to them can be the difference between closing deals with new customers and walking away.
You should listen to your customers because they know what they want; you’re not the only one with important insights, and the fact that the customer is always right. The increased customer experience through active listening will keep your customers returning for more, seeing your business thrive.
Connect With Your Customers Tip #3: Use a Friendly Tone
Your voice tone says a lot about your attitude towards helping a client. Customers are humans who can easily sense when you’re apathetic, tired, sarcastic, or genuinely helpful and friendly. So, how customers feel after contacting your business significantly impacts their decision to start or continue working with you.
So, a friendly tone should be used to build trust as it lets your customers know that the representative is ready and willing to address their concerns, assist with their issues, or answer their questions in a helpful and non-judgmental way. Besides, a positive tone and language convey a friendly, helpful, and respectful attitude towards the client. It can help reduce confusion, conflict and frustration and increase satisfaction, trust, and loyalty.
Connect With Your Customers Tip #4: Remain Positive
Remaining positive and calm is crucial, especially when dealing with unhappy or angry customers. However, this is never easy when you don’t know what to say and how to say it, which can help save the situation and build better client relationships. So, to remain positive, you must adjust your mindset and set aside any feelings you might have that the client has made a mistake or they’re giving unfair criticism.
Listen actively to what the unhappy client says as they want to be heard and voice their concerns. Repeat their concerns to ensure you’re addressing the right problem and help lower their stress and anger levels. Once you know the problem, be empathetic and apologize before presenting a solution.
Connect With Your Customers Tip #5: Ask for Feedback
Asking for feedback shows your clients that you value their opinions and want to improve your service or product. Feedback is, therefore, important when creating authentic customer connections. When you ask for feedback, you’ll also need to find a way to act upon it.
You can use structured or structured feedback, which can happen through automated tools or in informal conversations. You can inform your clients that you’re always looking to improve your products and services, and their honest feedback will help you achieve this.
BONUS TIP: Hire a Virtual Receptionist
Real people are the key to authentic business-customer relationships. Virtual receptionists are trained human professionals who handle calls and messaging on behalf of your business from a remote location. So, an excellent virtual relationship will guarantee that all your customer calls are promptly answered and handled with care and professionalism. Below are five advantages of using a virtual receptionist to connect with customers.
First Impressions
Virtual receptionists are professional and skilled customer service professionals who understand the ideal way to represent your brand. Besides, working with a virtual receptionist gives your business an appearance of prestige as they signal your business is formal and with a refined workflow. They can prove that your brand is a professional service with stellar customer service.
24/7 Availability
The key to solid customer connections and relationships is always being available to address their concerns. A virtual receptionist working round the clock can work remotely and take shifts when necessary, ensuring clients’ concerns are addressed even when you’re not there or when the business closes. A virtual receptionist ensures you never miss a call again, and you’re not leaving money on the table due to missed potential customers. Besides, virtual assistants ensure that your business is available throughout, giving the impression that it’s much larger than it is.
Call Management
Appointment setting can be a daunting process, especially when handled by several workers in multiple systems. Assigning the work to a virtual reception unifies the appointment-setting process keeping all involved up-to-date with automatic notifications and shared calendars.
Personalization
Virtual assistants are trained for complex customer interactions and are highly flexible. They’re trained to easily handle an unhappy, confused, or frustrated customer. They can calm the customer skillfully and quickly, passing the issue to the relevant department to address the problem and find the ideal solution. Besides, a virtual receptionist can screen phone calls, respond to new opportunities, and answer basic questions.
Cost Savings
Virtual assistants work remotely, meaning you don’t have to hire an in-house, more expensive receptionist. Most virtual receptionists charge by the hour or minute for a fraction of what you’d paid an in-house receptionist. This also means you do not have to incur training costs, salaries, or even furniture, meaning reduced costs and improved business.
Connect With Your Customers by Hiring a Virtual Receptionist
If you want to connect with your customers, please click here to learn more about our virtual receptionist services. If you have questions or need any clarification on our services, click here to contact us and get started.