Every business needs to make an effort to connect with customers. There has been a big change in the digital age for brands to be humanized and approach their customers like real people. No one wants to feel like they’re communicating with a faceless corporation, so businesses are making an effort to put more focus on the people behind the brand, as well as the values, mission, and vision of the brand. Finding ways to engage with customers is important for any business that wants to build customer loyalty and grow a reputation for being approachable and helpful.
You can use different methods to engage with your customers on a more personal level. Keep reading to find some of the techniques you could start using.
Customize Interactions with Customers
A one-size-fits-all approach probably isn’t appropriate when you’re marketing your business or dealing with customers. You might not be able to get to know every customer on a personal level, but you can take steps to customize the way you approach different segments of your audience. You can approach different types of customers in ways that work for them and what they’re expecting from you. It’s easy to customize interactions without much effort, especially if you automate some interactions and use a CRM to keep track of the customer journey.
Take Problems and Complaints Seriously
It’s important not to only make attempts to connect with customers when things are going well. Sometimes you have to deal with complaints and problems, and people want to be treated with respect. One of the frustrations customers often have is having to go through a stock process that’s applied to every customer, even if it might not be relevant to their issue. Giving your customer service representatives more freedom to have a conversation and find out how they can be most helpful could improve your results. Encourage them to be empathetic and understanding so that they can both provide practical support and make customers feel seen.
Be Personally Present on Social Media
Having branded social media accounts is expected for businesses today, but that’s not the only way to get involved on social media. You can also use personal social accounts to provide a more personal approach to speaking to customers and even others in your industry. Of course, you can set up accounts that are separate from your real personal accounts if there are things you want to post privately too. If you want to master social media marketing, use an agency like Top Marketing Agency to give you guidance. Marketing experts can help you to plan your social strategy so that you can produce positive results by engaging your customers.
Go Above and Beyond to Serve Customers
If you want to help your customers feel like individuals, strive to go above and beyond for them. Try to do more than they’re expecting from you and do what you can to provide customer satisfaction. You can provide special extras to reward customer loyalty or do whatever you can to solve a problem or source a product. However, it’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver than to promise something that you’re not able to provide. So make sure you’re not going to let your customers down by making promises that you can’t keep.
Follow Up
It’s always best to follow up on transactions and interactions to keep customers engaged. You don’t want to abandon them as soon as they’ve spent money with you, especially if they have a complaint or an issue that needs to be resolved. Following up gives you a chance to check if everything is working out, solve problems, and improve relationships with customers. It can also be a good way to encourage people to give you a review and to continue engaging with your brand.
Focus on Conversation, Not Selling
Being too pushy with sales tactics can easily turn people away from your brand and it often feels pretty impersonal. Instead of using hard sales tactics, you can have more success engaging with customers if you create more of an open dialogue. You should try to have conversations with customers, rather than just pushing marketing and sales. You can discuss your customer’s needs and make sure the focus is on them, rather than making it all about selling your products or services right away.
Interact with your customers as individuals to engage them on a more personal level. You can use a range of techniques if you want to take a more personal approach to customer engagement.
