How to Build Customer Relationships: 8 Methods

What is customer relations?

Before we get into the various methods for building customer relations, you need to have a solid understanding of what customer relations actually means.

Customer relations are the efforts a company makes to connect with customers and build positive long-term relationships with them. The goal of customer relations is to connect with your customers on a deeper, more meaningful level. Good customer relations can help a business retain current customers, as well as gain new ones.

Why are customer relationships important?

Customer relations is important for a business for many reasons. People who feel connected to a brand on a deeper level are more likely to continue to support the brand and recommend the brand to their friends and family. So, having strong customer relationships is important because it creates brand loyalty. When a customer feels loyal to your brand, they’re going to keep purchasing from your brand and may even try new products.

For example, if you always shop at a certain clothing store, and every time you go into the store you’re greeted by the most friendly and helpful sales people, you’re most likely going to continue to shop at that store and choose them over competitors. Customer relationships can increase customer lifetime value, which means that your customers will bring in more revenue for your company.

Whether you interact with your customers face-to-face or over the internet, building strong customer relationships is important nonetheless.

Benefits of building customer relationships

There are countless benefits of building customer relationships. Some of these benefits include:

• Cultivate repeat customers: When your customers have consistent positive experiences with your business, they’re more likely to choose you over competitors. Building strong customer relationships is an easy way to cultivate repeat customers and build loyalty.
• Improve customer satisfaction: Keeping your customers happy is crucial for any business. Customer satisfaction increases the chances that a customer will continue to support you and write positive reviews about your business.
• Boost customer loyalty: Oftentimes, customers will choose one brand over another because they feel loyal to them. Customer loyalty is a great way to increase sales and drive profit.
• Gain a better understanding of your customers: When you have a better understanding of your customers, you can better cater your products to them. Building good relationships with your customers is a good way to get feedback on how you can improve. If a customer feels like they can trust you, they’re going to feel comfortable sharing their honest opinions with you.
• Increase sales: When you have good relationships with your customers, not only are they going to continue to support your business, they’re going to tell the people they know to support you, too. They also are more likely to write positive reviews for your business. All of this can lead to increased sales and higher revenue.

What makes a good customer relationship?

What makes a good customer relationship is forming a strong connection with your customers that is based on trust and loyalty. You want every interaction your customers have with your business to be a positive one. In order to have good customer relationships, you need to truly care about your customers and want to connect with them on a deep level.

8 methods for building customer relationships

There are various ways you can go about building customer relationships for your business. It might take some trial and error before you figure out a tactic that works for you, but here are 8 methods that we recommend:

1. Be consistent

Consistency is key. You don’t want your customers having an extremely positive interaction one day and then a very average one the next. You need to keep all of your interactions with your customers at the same positive level. Your customers should know that every time they step into your store or interact with one of your employees, they’re going to have a good experience.

2. Use CRM software

CRM software is customer relationship management technology that a business can use to manage relationships and interactions with current and new customers. CRM software can be very helpful for building strong customer relationships because it’s a way to get to know your audience so you can figure out the right ways to market to them. With CRM software, all of your employees will have access to real-time client data that they can analyze to better understand their target customers.

3. Foster an emotional connection

One of the best ways to build customer relationships is by fostering an emotional connection with your customers. Customers who are fully emotionally connected to a brand are on average 70% more valuable than customers who aren’t emotionally connected to the brand.

There are many ways you can go about creating an emotional connection with your customers. Be vulnerable with them and relate to their struggles. Communicate with them in a real and personal way. Show interest in your customers’ lives and spend the time to get to know them. All of this will help you form an emotional connection with your customer that can hugely benefit your business.

4. Provide excellent customer service

Providing good customer service is an essential part of building customer relationships. You want your customers to feel comfortable going to you if they need help with anything. If the product they bought from your business is defective, offer a refund right away. If they aren’t sure how to use the product, provide them with the support they need. Take your time to make sure they always get excellent customer service.

5. Be transparent and communicative

No one wants to support a business that says one thing and then does another. When a business is transparent and communicative with its customers, it helps to build loyalty because your customers can trust you. Transparency also helps to foster customer retention because your customers will feel like they’re actually involved in the business processes.

6. Create personalized experiences

There’s no better feeling than receiving something that was made just for you. Personalized gifts make you feel special and cared for, and the same goes for personalized experiences. If your customer comes to you for help, don’t just reply with a generic response that you give to everyone. Take the time to understand their unique situation so that you can provide personal and genuine advice that is catered just to them.

7. Understand customer needs

A business’s ultimate goal is to help their customers. But in order to help your customers, you need to understand their needs. It’s imperative to actually listen to what your customers have to say so that you can create a product or service that works for them. Understanding your customer needs is a great way to increase customer retention because your customers will know that you have their best interests at heart.

8. Solicit customer feedback

Feedback—whether it’s good or bad—is crucial for a business, and one way you can build strong relationships with your customers is by asking them for their honest feedback. Sometimes hearing the truth hurts, but it’s necessary so that you can build your business to the best it can be.

Final notes

In order for your business to succeed, you need to focus on building strong customer relationships. Customer relationships create brand loyalty, increase customer retention, and can even drive revenue for your business. Customer relations is important for any and all businesses, but if you need some help with how to build strong customer relationships, you can use Mailchimp.

Mailchimp is an all-in-one email marketing solution—and a CRM software solution—that can help businesses build better customer relationships. Mailchimp offers a variety of resources that you can use to strengthen your bond with your customers and improve your business, like with audience segmentation and content creation tools. Mailchimp can help you build a website for free and track the performance of your business so you can understand what’s working and what isn’t. Sign up for Mailchimp today so you can form strong and reliable relationships with all of your customers.