Your clients and customers make it possible for you to run your successful business. As such, making sure they feel heard, understood, and valued is likely at the core of your customer service strategy. If you’re looking for new and effective ways to connect with your clients, these five tips will help you advance your goals of increasing your connection with the people you serve and sell to, helping to build customer loyalty and improve your communication and relationship with your existing accounts.
Use Video Chatting Softwares
The rising popularity of video meeting software such as Zoom, Google Meets, and Microsoft Teams is no accident. In an increasingly digital age, scheduling video calls with your clients is a great way to increase connection and add a personal touch to your customer service. It gives them the opportunity to pair a “face with the name” and voice that they may have heard over the phone and allows team members and those they serve to get to know each other better.
Listen and Validate
In these challenging times, it’s important to listen to your client’s needs and concerns and get to know their pain points. Giving them your undivided attention, being an active listener and asking questions, and following up on what they say in your next conversation are all ways that you can make your customers feel heard and validated. While it can be tempting to try to solve their problems or give advice right away, sometimes the best and most productive thing you can do is just to listen to their worries and provide validation.
Reach Out
Rather than waiting for your clients to come to you with their problems, you could (and should!) proactively reach out to see what they are needing and how they are feeling. This conveys that you care about their experience and wellbeing and helps to establish a strong customer service relationship.
Get Involved as a Leader
As a leader, you definitely shouldn’t be leaving all the work of fostering connection to your employees. According to Accounting Web, setting an example for your team members is a crucial part of relationship building. Show up for your clients, get to know them on a personal level, and be involved in the client experience that your staff is creating.
Provide Clarity
Your clients come to you because you have an expertise they do not. Part of your job is to help them feel like they have a good grasp of the plan you have created for them. Avoid complex jargon, favoring simple language that helps them to feel confident that they understand where they are at with your services going forward.
Creating personal connections is key to a successful customer/business relationship. In taking an active role in planning and prioritizing communication, you are not only helping those you serve to feel heard and understood but are also building customer loyalty. Now more than ever it is important to show your clients that they are important and valued and that you will be there to support them in all circumstances.
