By Kara Masterson
Building and maintaining quality customer relationships is a concern that no business can afford to take lightly. Finding effective ways to interact with customers, improve communication or address any concerns that consumers may have offer numerous benefits ranging from repeat business opportunities to enhancing the brand or image companies and organizations are seeking to create. The following six ways to reach out to customers can be of immense benefit for businesses interested in establishing or expanding their clientele.
Create a Newsletter or Blog
Online newsletters and company blogs are versatile resources that offer numerous opportunities to communicate with both established and prospective customers. These online publications can allow businesses to quickly and easily post product and service information, weigh in on any issues or trends impacting their respective industry or address any questions or concerns that customers may have.
Make it Easier to Connect Over the Phone
Even with email, video calling and instant messaging services, many customers still prefer to deal with business-related issues over the phone. Resources, such as inbound call center services, can allow even smaller businesses and organizations with limited staff to ensure all callers are provider with superior quality customer service, regardless of call volume.
Ensuring All Customer Inquiries and Issues Are Responded to Promptly
Even a minor delay in response time may find prospective clients and potential customers taking their business elsewhere. Ensuring all emails, calls and other communications are dealt with promptly and professionally can allow businesses to enhance their reputation and ensure that the issues caused by poor customer satisfaction issues are less likely to cause problems.
Utilize Social Media Services
Social media outlets and services have quickly become an indispensable resource, one that is able to provide businesses and organizations with an expanded range of options for improving customer education, communication and satisfaction. Social media combines the best aspects of blogging and email-based communication while allowing organizations to create a greater number of potential business opportunities than they might have imagined. Failing to maintain an active social media presence is no longer an oversight that businesses can afford to ignore.
Optimize Digital Media for Mobile Users
Consumers are utilizing smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices to do business in greater numbers than ever before. From mobile-site optimization services to digital advertising and marketing efforts that specifically target mobile users, today’s businesses would be wise to consider their options and overall promotional strategy. Mobile media offers plenty of ways to attract and acquire new clientele or to help ensure the needs of past and current customers are able to be met.
Create and Maintain the Right Professional Culture
A workplace philosophy or culture that prioritizes customer satisfaction can have significant and long-lasting benefits. Encouraging all staff and associates to go the extra mile when dealing with customers can make a world of difference and businesses that see customer relationships as a valuable and fragile resource can enjoy greater competitive advantage. While marketing and promotional efforts can be used to foster or encourage a reputation for pleasing customers, organizations that spend their efforts in ways that will actual improve customer satisfaction may have an easier time creating or maintaining the right image and brand.
Neglecting the value of customer relations can find even the most promising businesses struggling just to remain competitive and profitable. Organizations can benefit a great deal by assessing their effectiveness and efficiency of their current efforts and addressing any areas that may require improvement. Thanks to new technology and innovation, today’s increasingly digital marketplace provides businesses with more ways to reach out to their customers than ever before.
Kara Masterson is a freelance writer from West Jordan, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah and enjoys writing and spending time with her dog, Max.
