subject: How You Could Go About Improving Customer Relationship Right Away [print this page] When you are thinking of improving customer relationship, you should stay focused on your customer always and it is a continuous process. You cannot rest a second and be satisfied if your sales are up as sooner or later your most loyal customers can move elsewhere. You cannot take silence for granted as they may not express their displeasure with your product or service, but choose to deal with others the next time.
Primarily, your level of customer service and the relationship you can maintain depends a lot on the people who provide it. If your sales staff is not good enough or are ill-paid and trained, then you cannot expect service to be of a high quality. Your best bet would be to check that employees who have been with you for long and remained through thick and thin are properly rewarded. They have a stake in the growth of the company and they need to be motivated with performance based incentives.
When you look at yourself in the mirror, you get an exact picture of yourself. If you grimace, the mirror would reflect your grimacing face. Your employees are your mirror images and would do as you do. If you are soft and understanding with your customer, your employees would always try to emulate you. If people complain of rude customer service, then the management is more to blame than the employees.
Improving customer relationship begins with knowing your customer. Many business owners cannot easily recognize their regular customers by first name. If you don't know your customer who has been with you for some time, then how could you offer service that would satisfy him or her? You should not only know your customers well but also some of their personal information that they are willing to share.
Knowing more about them provides you with an excellent opportunity to anticipate their requirements much before they tell you about it. You should also be accessible to your customers as a business owner. Sometimes they may have issues for which they want to deal directly with the owner rather than the staff. They should always know who is in charge as you may have people on your payroll that are new to the business and not familiar with all the customers.
Improving customer relationship also involves going the extra mile. You can congratulate the customer when he or she gets a promotion or their name appears in print. There are very small instances like sending a birthday card, wishing them on special moments and calling them up to find out if they are happy with your product or service. You can get closer and understand their requirements better.
And while dealing with your customers never promise something that you can't deliver as they get easily disturbed if their expectations are not met. Some can tell you readily and rant about it while others may remain quiet. Being silent may mean you won't be getting any more repeat orders for your products and services and you need improving customer relationship.
