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Every day a new business is born that needs your product or services that may be able to become your customer. July 16th is Get to Know Your Customers Day. This day falls on the third Thursday of each quarter.
Why it’s important to get to know your customers
It makes good practice to recognize this day each quarter to help build customer loyalty. Creating this loyalty will increase the chance that they will return. And repeat customers are less costly to maintain than to acquire new customers.
It will also help your success in understanding your customer’s needs so you’ll know how to help them in the future and keep them as a happy customer. Understanding your customer and their pain points is the key to providing them with better service. Better yet, it can help you to anticipate their needs and help them out even before they ask you.
You should plan an activity or take some kind of action to get to know your customers each quarter of the year. As you get to know them, they also get to know you and that will build trust. If they know, like, and trust you, you won’t have to worry about losing them as a satisfied customer.
Getting your customers to network during a worldwide pandemic
This may prove to be a little difficult at first. But it’s not impossible. You will just need a little creativity.
However, you’ll no longer be able to network at in-person events for that valuable face time. You will not be able to host a cocktail party just to say thanks. You will no longer be able to invite a customer or prospect to coffee, lunch, or dinner to build your relationship. You can’t visit their place of work to gain a deeper understanding of their needs.
This is where creativity comes in. I bet if you sat down and thought really hard, you could think of several things to do. And thank goodness technology makes it easier these days.
Get to know your customers ideas that you can easily implement
- Go where your customers go online. Are they on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter?
- Follow your customers on social media and engage with them there.
- Make follow-up calls to see how they like a product they purchased.
- Send a handwritten thank you note.
- Send an eGift card to say thanks.
- Show your appreciation with a thank you book.
- Organize a virtual cocktail hour using video conferencing for all your customers to mingle together online.
- Send them an inexpensive gift based on their personal interests.
- Survey your customers about their needs and their satisfaction with you, the company and the product. You could mail it or create one for free with SurveyMonkey.
- Respond to unhappy customers in a respectful and diplomatic manner. Ask them how you can make it right. Learn from the experience and improve your processes or service.
- Ask a client why they chose you, your company or product. It may surprise you and offer you a different slant for future clients.
- Organize a focus group of customers to learn more in-depth information and meet online.
- Set up a Google alert so you get up-to-date news about your customers.
- Do targeted networking. Select just a few impactful customers and think about how you can be valuable to them. But make it about them, not about you.
- Ask them the right questions. Questions that will help them open up and help you make a sale. Questions that make them think about value and not about price. Questions that will reveal what motivates them to make a purchase or decision. Questions that expose what problems they need to resolve. Remember to listen to the answers. Really listen.
- Get to the point quickly on your next client call by asking “Granted I called you, but what prompted you to meet with me today?”
- Do some online research about your customers and their decision makers.
- Do a regular needs analysis with current customers. Their needs change with time and there may be a new opportunity for you that you are not aware of.
- Add value by recommending an article, a blog, a book, an app, or something else that you think might be helpful to them.
- Offer to introduce them to someone that can help them.
- Make sure you are available to those people that genuinely want and need your help. Be responsive and try your very best to provide valuable assistance. Good communication always improves bottom-line results!
- Using a good project management system can help improve the customer experience. It helps to keep everyone on your team informed and on the same page.
Finally, it may be concluded that you own the customer experience for your existing customers. Be as transparent and honest as you can. Offer excellent service and use excellent communication. You can also create a loyalty program that your existing customers can take advantage of to let them know how important they are. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.
Get to know your customers FREE download
Download the above list in a PDF document. Just click the link below and complete the form to have it sent directly to your email inbox. Print it and mark them off as you implement them. Make note of which ones worked best.