5-Star Service: Bridging The Gap Between Business And Customer

Of all the mistakes we make in business, poor communication is something that we’ve all done from time to time.

Whether it’s not making yourself clear with your employees, or a serious error in your advertising communication, we’ve all dropped the ball. Great communication, however, is a fundamental tenet that solidifies your relationship with customers.

It’s a goal we should strive for, in order to grow sales and profits.

Bridging the gap between business and customer is, arguably, more difficult now than ever. The marketplace is oversaturated with businesses of all sizes, which is why communication is so important to business survival.

So, how do you build the communication bridge?

Hemingway’s Approach

It’s the Ernest Hemingway approach to presenting yourself. You show the tip of the iceberg, when, in fact, you’ve done more detailed research- so you don’t have to show everything. How you are perceived, and how you engage with the customer, are important to any marketing campaign.

To dig deep and find consumer preferences, try using a questionnaire with open-ended questions, or interview customers by phone or online.

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You need to get to the emotions behind why a customer makes a certain purchase. Nurturing quality relationships with customers is about solving a customer problem, and helping customers feel an affinity towards you.

Business Ethos

To help a customer feel a sense of affinity toward your business, you lay bare your ethos for everyone to see. Transparency isn’t just beneficial for the employees in your business, it also helps customers make their buying decisions.

If you are selling items via a website, create solid security for customer payments. You have to show your customer that you are doing everything in your power to protect their best interests. Because customers are providing sensitive information, such as card details, so you have to assure the customer that their information is secure.

Payment Security

On ecommerce sites, there are gateways, where customers input card details, and it’s important to have these parts of your site secure- and as user-friendly as possible.

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Providers like BlueSnap are one of many that can be utilized to ensure that your customers’ sensitive information is kept securely. Data breaches happen so often now, that we don’t like to put our trust in a company that we don’t really know.

This is the peril of so many small businesses now, and if you are reliant on customers to see you through difficult times, it’s essential for you to provide that piece of mind to every buyer.

It’s About Them

Your customer needs to be the priority- not you.

Of course, when you’ve developed a good relationship with the customer, then you can work at highlighting what makes you different. But when you build a new customer relationship, it’s about appealing to them.

This issue goes back to the emotional needs, but you can communicate your overall attitudes to the customer in your marketing, and also ensure that you are going above and beyond to address customer needs.

It’s The Little Things

When we are buying from a brick and mortar store, we don’t think about what we bought, but how we felt when we bought it. This needs to be at the forefront of your mind when working towards building a solid relationship with a customer, especially when your relationship is exclusively online.

Email marketing is one of those things that can go one of two ways: it can engage the customer, or it can turn them off completely. This is why tone of voice is essential, because it links the product with your brand.

One of the great things about running an online business is that you have total control over your tone of voice, but if you are running a physical store, some of the tone may be lost. Consider the little things when nurturing your relationship with the customer.

The Long Game

Building a relationship with a customer isn’t just about the immediate impact; it’s about the long game. When you’re trying to entice customers at the very outset, it’s not just about flashy gimmicks; it’s about a sense of trustworthiness, which allows you to nurture a customer over time.

This post is for educational purposes only.

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

Co-Founder: accountinged.com

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) https://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

(you tube channel) kenboydstl

 

Image: Bullseye, Jeff Turner CC by 2.0