Mary Rae Floresca | Negosentro.com
Having a problem with customer relations?Having difficulty understanding your role for them? Well, there are basic and pressure points to remember when it comes to client relationship management. Generally speaking, we can sum up a few keys to achieve successful customer relationships.
1. Take ownership in your role
Start by using “I” when communicating, instead of “our team”, best to depict towards the client that you’re “owning” your role in the company that you take care of your tasks personally. This also means taking responsibility in handling your clients in your business. You should not pass your tasks to different persons in the company unless you are on sick leave. Clients like to communicate with only one person to avoid misunderstanding on the deal they came up with.
2. Always be Available
This is one of the tough challenges in the world of customer relations. If your role in the company is always in close communication with the clients, then you should be able to manage answering texts or calls randomly throughout the day. You can’t rely on e-mails, some clients want immediate responses. When your company gave you a mobile phone, that means you should be available for your bosses when they need you and the people you coordinate with. Accept the fact that you should always be in touch with your clients. Being available for them always make them feel important.
3. Understand your clients
To be successful with your client relationship, you should know them by heart, meaning, remember their name, their wants and like, the basics like where they work or do they live near your store perhaps. Those little details are small sources to keep a conversation going with them. Best to make a client profile for each, it’s not really like an investigative report for each but just the basics. Get to know them better, when you meet next time, they will appreciate that you remember them. Also, understand their needs, listen intently, do your task and get their feedback. That’s the cycle.
4. Personal contact
Plan a personal meeting with your clients, especially if you are the one needing their service or if you’re presenting a product to them. Sometimes, clients do not rely on email or phone calls, best to show how genuine you are and not a scammer by meeting them and presenting them your proposals in a casual way. Meet up at a coffee shop, yes coffee on your expense. That will be greatly appreciated by your clients. Smile and do a good grip with your handshake, look at them in the eye when speaking to them. Don’t get distracted with the social media notifications you get from your mobile. Focus on your meeting, that way communication is better.
4) Meet in person.
Difficult situations can quickly get worse when played out over email or the phone. Yet, too many of us avoid travel because it requires time and money. Even leaving the office to visit a client who is only 15 minutes away can seem impossible to fit into our busy schedules. However, we also recognize that travel often offers us uninterrupted time to think and work.
So start thinking of travel in a different light — a welcome gift of “me” time where you can do some of your best creative thinking. At a minimum, you can use it to plan that tough in-person meeting, preparing a better interaction than if you just picked up the phone or sent an email. The additional time and thought will help you set the stage for getting through any impasses, and it will improve your client relationship towards working better together in the future.
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