Starting with a common issue, many businesses forget to build strong connections with their customers. This oversight hurts both growth and keeping customers around. A good customer relations plan can bring in a lot in returnโloyalty and happy customers. In this blog, we will break down the basics of customer relations, why it matters, and give you what you need to make a solid plan for your business.
What Is Customer Relations: Explained & Simplified
In simple terms, customer relations is about how you handle interactions with your clients to make sure they are happy. This includes solving any issues they face with your brand, both in the short and long term.
More precisely- it is the ongoing effort to keep customers happy whenever they connect with your business. Companies with a strong customer experience plan build lasting connections with clients, which helps keep them around and attracts new ones.
However, often people get confused between customer relations and customer service. Both are interconnected but there is a fine line between these two. Let us explore what is the role of customer service when it comes to customer relations and how they they differ from each other.
Customer Service vs Customer Relations: The Basic Difference
Building strong connections with customers begins at the frontline, where your support team operates. Support members have many personal interactions with customers, giving them a special role in shaping these important connections. By being helpful and offering extra value, they become the guardians of these vital relationships. Letโs have a quick look at the basic differences below:
| Customer Relations | Customer Service |
|---|---|
| Loyal programs to delight repeat customers | Quick responses to customer queries |
| Monitor brand sentiment on social media | Omnichannel support options for customers |
| Product design, packaging & branding | Creating self-service tools for customers |
| Customer service & support | Acting on customer feedback |
For example, at WPDeveloper, we encourage our support team to actively build relationships. For example, if you have a problem with anything related to the product or service you purchased, our support team will help you understand everything by providing the necessary materials. If that does not work, they will make a live call video/audio to help you out.
The more engaged customers are with your company and product, the more value they get and the stronger the relationship becomes. Giving your support team the freedom to enhance the customer experience in creative ways improves relationships.
This is not just about one roleโit is about every employee playing a part in taking care of customer relations. Every team member should contribute to making customer relationships better. Letโs have a glance at the comparison.
The Core Benefits Of Positive Consumer Relations
If you focus on keeping your customers happy and making their experience better, good things can happen. Here are some important perks of having strong relationships with your customers:
Source: Shopify
More Repeat Business (And More Sales)
By giving your customers a positive experience and building good relationships, you make them want to come back. Studies show that a small 5% increase in keeping customers can lead to a big 25% increase in profits. It is a win-win situation.
Stronger Customer Loyalty
Keeping your customers means they are more likely to stick with your brand. If their experience with your company is good, they have a solid reason to stay loyal. Repeat customers are more likely to buy from you again compared to those who have not bought from you yet.
Happier Customers
When you build lasting relationships, it makes it easier to ask customers for their thoughts. This makes them feel important and valued, leading to more satisfied customers over time. If they like what you are doing, it is likely to show in your sales.
Better Word-Of-Mouth
Closing a sale is not the end โ it is the start of a potential fan. When you build relationships, your happy customers might become advocates, leaving positive reviews. Research shows that almost half (46%) of people trust online reviews almost as much as personal recommendations. So, your customer base can grow on its own.
Without a doubt, the benefits of having good relationships with customers are impressive. Now, how do you create a strong plan for managing customer relationships? Let us explore that.
How To Thrive In Todayโs Business Landscape: 5 Tips To Customer Relations
Considering all your interactions with customers, many things can affect how well you get along with them. To build good relationships with customers, companies should take a team approach that focuses on helping customers succeed.
To do this, there are a few important things that every business should think about when trying to have good relationships with customers to thrive in today’s business landscape.
Foster A Positive Work Environment For Customer Service Reps
Richard Branson, the person behind Virgin Airlines, once said that if you treat your employees well, they will treat customers well too. It makes sense โ if a customer service rep is having a rough day, it can affect how customers feel.
Studies also found that happy workers are 12% more productive. In jobs like customer service, more productive reps mean quicker solutions and happier customers.
Prioritize Employee Training Investments
Good customer experiences do not just come from the product โ the people working with customers matter too. Your team needs to be good at their job and motivated to solve customer issues quickly.
However, customer service training involves improving ‘soft’ skills, like listening well, communicating professionally, and solving problems efficiently within your company’s way of doing things.
Even if your team seems skilled when they start, ongoing training helps everyone follow your brand rules and procedures, making the experience consistent for all customers.
Establish An Online Customer Community
Encouraging customers to talk to each other and your experts is a great way to improve relationships. Set up an online group, like a website forum or Facebook group, where customers can stay connected with your brand and help each other out.
Make sure someone from your team manages the group and answers questions. This way, customers know they are being heard. Being active in the group is key to building good relationships with customers.
Enhance First Call Resolution Rates
Most people (86%) are willing to pay more for a better experience, and nowadays, great customer service is expected. One important thing to check when making things smooth for customers is ‘first-call resolution’ (FCR). FCR means solving issues in a single call without needing more follow-ups.
This is crucial because it makes customers happier (nobody likes calling again and again for the same problem), and it also helps your team work better.
If more calls get sorted out completely, it is easier on your system since there are fewer calls to handle. So, your service and support teams should be ready to handle most customer problems without making them call again and again.
Provide Self-Service Opportunities
You might not always have the time to offer one-on-one help 24/7. Make sure your customers have what they need to solve issues on their own. Use chatbots to share info and guide visitors on your website. Keep a base di conoscenza for common questions. Even if some customers prefer calling, these steps help independent customers and make them happy by fixing issues right away.
However, if you want to create a knowledge base for your business, BetteDocs with 30,000+ users could be your go-to solution if you are a WordPress or Shopify user. BetterDocs is available both for WordPress & Shopify. To learn more, below are the resources for you:
Listen To Your Customers & Grow Your Business More
Listen to your customers and fix things that make them unhappy. To build good relationships and keep customers, you need to focus on what they want and go beyond their expectations. If you do that, your customer relationships will get much better.
Hope you find this blog helpful with the tips for customer relationship management. If yes, then please subscribe to our blog for more useful updates, tips, guidelines, and comparisons, or join our Facebook community to get in touch.
