subject: Using Google Alerts to Keep Current with Your Customers [print this page] Using Google Alerts to Keep Current with Your Customers
Keeping up with your customers is a great way of maintaining loyalty. Google Alerts can provide you with important information about your customers that arm you with great data for keeping the conversation fresh and the relationship strong.
Set up a Google Alert for every customer both company name and contact name.
News of new product announcements or the opening of a new location will be sent to your inbox. This will allow you to send a note of congratulations (I'd recommend both email and hand written) to your customer.
By setting up a Google Alert on the contact name, if there is a press release regarding a promotion or that individual taking a new position at another company, you'll know. Once again you are in a position to send a note of congratulations and have an opportunity to see if you can be of assistance to them in their new role.
The company name alert might alert you to the fact of a new hire. What an excellent opportunity to congratulate them, describe your relationship with the company to date and extend an invitation to bring them up to speed on the products and services that are in place.
You'll also get alerts to any awards or community recognition your customers receive again, it provides an opportunity for you to add your congratulations.
I've discovered that most of the time, my customers weren't aware that the news was out there. So in addition to my personal well wishes and kudos, my customers are happy to see the link and news item.
We all aspire to providing a great customer experience, and Google Alerts is a free, automated, convenient way to enhance that experience.
