5 Easy Ways Small Businesses Can Build Strong Customer Relationships

The key is to see things from your customers' point of view.

Relationships with your customers are like other important relationships in your life or business. At heart, it's about communication, listening, and seeing things from their perspective. There are lots of customer relationship management tools you can use to make it easier. But the tools are only useful if you have a customer-focused attitude.

Here are five ways every small business can build the type of relationships that keep customers coming back time and again.

1. Set clear, measurable goals around customer retention

Whatever moves you want to make in your business, the first step is to set goals and articulate what you want to achieve. Once you have clear goals, talk to your team about the steps you might take to achieve them. It is important they understand what you're trying to do and why, and have an opportunity to contribute to the process.

In terms of customer relationships, a good starting point would be to measure your current customer retention rate and understand how much of your business comes from new customers versus existing ones. It costs a lot more to gain new customers than it does to keep the ones you've already got, so developing these metrics is crucial for your long-term success.

2. Communicate using information customers want to read

A common mistake in sales and customer service is to tell people what you want them to know -- such as the launch of a new product, or reasons why your service is better than a competitor. Think of it from the customer's point of view. Nobody wants to be sold to. Just as you'd avoid a person at a party who only talked about how great they are, customers are unlikely to read emails or blogs that only focus on your incredible product or service.

A better approach? Create content that focuses on key developments in the industry, and helps your customers handle the challenges they face. Perhaps that's general information on how to beat inflation or blogs that are specific to the industry you are in. That way you can present yourself as their partner that gives them information they need, and at the same time subtly shows how its products might help them.

3. Seek feedback and act on it

There are many different ways you can listen to your customers, and a lot depends on your business. If you already speak to your customers regularly, it could be as simple as asking them what you could improve, or making a point of checking they are satisfied with your service. You could even invite some of your top clients to an exclusive event, such as a talk from a business leader or a networking breakfast. Not only does this reward loyalty, it also gives you an opportunity to speak to the people that matter most to you.

If your company interacts more via its website, emails, and social media, look for ways to use these channels to solicit feedback. For example, you could put a survey on your website or via emails to your customer base. Think carefully about how many questions you ask and keep the survey short to maximize your chance of getting replies.

Once you have feedback, be sure to analyze and act on that information. You might build reviewing responses into your team meetings, or look for other ways to ensure the information collected doesn't get lost. If you're able to tell your customers how you listened and acted on their responses, so much the better.

4. Look for ways to reward loyalty

It's common for businesses to offer discounts to attract new customers, but sometimes they neglect the people who've already signed up. Think about ways you can reward customers who keep coming back, whether that's by giving them early-bird access to new offers or making other special deals available.

As with the content of your marketing, think about offers that will mean something to your clients. For example, there's no point giving them a free desktop calendar that they will never use. Check out our guide to setting up a customer loyalty program for ideas to make customer loyalty a cornerstone of your operations.

5. Deliver on your promises

Unhappy customers can do significant damage to your reputation. Customers may leave negative reviews or complain about you on social media. But they may also just quietly stop using your services. If your customers aren't satisfied and don't feel you've done what you said you would do, it can cost you money.

Another ramification of poor customer service is that it can hurt employee morale. If your staff have to spend their time appeasing irritated clients rather than contributing to a brand they can be proud of, they are less likely to stick around.

Bottom line

If you can find ways to bake customer retention into your systems and processes, you'll be able to grow without constantly spending money to attract new clients. You'll be able to tailor your offerings so you can be confident you're providing products and services that people want to use. All in all, strong customer relationships are good for your company's bottom line and can also give you an edge over your competitors.