The relationship between your small business and your customers has to be more than an exchange of goods and services for money if you want to succeed. Poor customer relations can adversely affect both your brand and how your product is viewed, which can cost you a lot in lost customers and sales.
The good news is, being a small business lets you be more personal with customers, at least when compared to large businesses. Here are a few things you can do to build a strong and healthy connection with your customers.
- Ask Them What They Think
[quotes]Feedback is invaluable,[/quotes] it's something you should crave at every opportunity. Fortunately, customers are all too eager to let you know what they think. The problem is the opportunity to inform you isn't always there.
Invite feedback. Send out surveys and hand out comment cards whenever appropriate. Brace yourself – what they tell you won't always be positive, and criticism can be hard to take at times. However, it's what you need. Only by getting customer feedback will you understand what you're doing right and where you're making mistakes. Best of all, your [quotesright]customers’ suggestions and feedback will help you spot trends and growth opportunities. [/quotesright]
- Show Customers That You Appreciate Their Business
Appreciation is a strange word for many small business owners. Why appreciate your customers when you're giving them something of value for their money? [quotes]You do it because they chose you.[/quotes] You may have made it easier with great marketing and a good product, but they still made the decision to give your small business a shot. Millions of great products and thousands of businesses go under because their target markets didn't choose them. That could have easily been you.
Show them the appreciation they deserve with loyalty programs and discounts. Give them free items whenever possible. Any costs incurred will come back to you tenfold in the form of loyalty, return business, and positive word-of-mouth.
- Connect with Them
There is absolutely no reason for you to not connect with your audience, seeing as connecting with them is easier than ever before. [quotesright]Technology has given your small business the power to easily stay in touch with your target market. [/quotesright] You could, conceivably, choose not to – but then how would you compare to the competition? Your customers will hear from them more, and eventually you'll fall by the wayside.
Talk to customers online and give them the opportunity to talk to your company. Let them participate in the conversation by allowing comments. [quotes]Ask them what they think[/quotes] through posts on your social networks.
- Do More Than They Expect
[quotesright]Disappointment sticks with people. [/quotesright] Customers will remember that one time delivery was late, but will often not recall the many times everything went as expected. [quotes]Fortunately, pleasant surprises also stick[/quotes] in the mind. The latter is what you want, and it's often easier to generate.
The secret is promising little, then over-delivering. When people get more than they expect, they're pleased. They feel like they got a good deal. The real trick is offering enough to get people to choose your small business, and still having enough up your sleeve to make them smile.
Every customer counts to a small business. You can't afford to let anyone go, not without a fight, and that fight is easier to win when you have a relationship with your customers. Talk with them. Connect with them. [quotesright]Promise little and deliver them a lot. Make them loyal to you. [/quotesright]
