Whether the economy is good or bad, business owners have to focus on their customers. You have to understand that it is more cost effective to sell to existing customers than to new ones. This is the reason why it is important that you create long and lasting relationship with your customers both in good and bad times.
If done right, relationship marketing actually provides several benefits to businesses. This will help you build your customers list and reduce your marketing expenses in the long run. This will also bring referrals to your business and help you grow your business one step at a time. So, how to you do relationship marketing? Here's how:
1 – You need to first understand what your customers need. What products or services are they looking for? You don't just create a product that is full of feature to make them interesting, but rather create a product that will address the needs of your customers. In order to do this, you need to do lots of research.
2 – Be sure to keep in touch. This is not difficult to do. You can simply send post cards or thank you cards regularly to tell your customers that you remember them. You can also send a newsletter every month to send info to them and build their trust. If you do this, it would be easy for you to promote your business the next time and help you reinforce your brand.
3 – Know your weaknesses. In the midst of promoting your business, there could be instances when there would be problems you would encounter. You have to recognize these problems in order to come up with the best solution. You can even ask your customers for their feedbacks to find out what you need to improve in your business.
4 – Show your customers that you are the expert in your field. Tell your customers that you are good in your job. If you can show evidences of your past work the better. Otherwise, you can ask for testimonials from your previous clients and put them in your web site, business card, or post card. This will help build your credibility and professionalism in front of your customers.
When you are seen as an expert, you become smart and attractive to your customers. They see you as the expert and will trust you to help them solve their problem.
5 – Build relationships. Whenever there are networking activities, don't be scared to attend them. This will help you meet new prospects who can later on turn to customers. Send also greeting cards and thank you card printing. These cards are simple to produce yet they create the most effect to your customers. If you know how to appreciate and value your customers, they will feel good about you and trust you more.
Building relationship is not something that can happen overnight. It would require hard work and dedication. But if done well, the result will be significant. Your customers will stay loyal to you can they will come over and over again to buy from your business.
Author Resource:
Troy Duff works as a businessman and currently runs an online printing company that offers thank you cards , banners, magazines, flyers, posters, thank you card printing , custom printer and other printed ads.