A customer comes to your store. What do you do first
Are you asking them what they need? Are you showing them a few choices that are trending? Do you have her check out the store before you contact her?
The question is: why?
Why do you need to connect with your customers and understand their needs?
When you show an interest in your customers’ needs, they’ll feel valued and important. And every customer wants to feel that when they enter a store. It is this sense of connection with a brand that drives customers to come back and buy something again.
But how do you deal with the situation when you start an e-commerce business? How do you build relationships with your customers online?
It may seem like a tough question, but it isn’t. There are so many ways you can build relationships with your customers online.
Here are a few tips to help you build and maintain relationships with online customers.
How ecommerce companies build relationships with customers
1. Direct engagement in social media
Every company must be represented on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. They are some of the most important online marketing tools that companies can use to publicize product offerings, promote the company, share industry news, and connect with customers.
You can create a page on social media and fill it with content about your product. Prospects will drop their comments and you can reply and start conversations with them. When you get along with them, they’ll become convinced to trust you. The trust you build with them will drive them to buy your goods or services.
Communicating with customers not only gives them confidence, but also makes them feel confident and important. By speaking to customers, you offer them your business contact and the guarantee of high quality service. Other prospects can also go over your social media conversations and decide to support you.
Having face-to-face conversations with your customers will build personal connections and show them how quickly you can respond to their questions and feedback.
2. Follow up
When a customer has made a purchase, tracking is important. Calling or sending personalized emails can be ideal, but you may not have enough time. You can use automatic messaging and email strategies to customize and personalize your messages.
For a smooth process, create a base template and personalize it after each purchase and contact the customer to make sure they have their product in good condition and are happy with the experience.
This way, you will collect valuable customer feedback that will help improve the experience of future customers. You can even use automation to include the customer’s name and other relevant information in the email.
3. Email communication
You need to create an email list if you want to keep in touch with customers. Also, make sure that the emails you send are not sales-oriented. Any email sent to a customer should contain relevant content that can help them solve a problem. This way you connect with your customer and improve your online relationship.
In addition, you need an email strategy: When do you plan to send emails to your customers? What do you want to achieve with email? Which USPs will you be promoting by email?
Another reason to send email to your customers is to collect their feedback. Whether a customer is using your service or buying a product through your website, it is important to send out surveys and get an insight into their overall shopping experience. This way you know if you need to improve your customer journey and what is holding you back from delivering a pleasant customer experience.
4. Create / host events
Inviting your customers to a promotional event or product launch can be a great way to socialize and improve your relationships. The invitees learn more about your brand through the event, while you meet your customers in person, make a powerful impression, and build trust.
For example, let’s say you run an online clothing and accessories brand. For example, you can invite your online customers to a fashion show so that you have an idea of the target group you are addressing and they can take a close look at your products.
5. Excellent customer support
Your customer service should be top notch as there are few moments of two-way communication between your business and your customers in the e-commerce world. Therefore, these should count a few times.
You have many options to choose from because online customer support has steadily improved over the past few years. You can use FAQs, customer forums, searchable knowledge bases, and many other methods to provide information. Some companies use self-service support, but if you’re determined to have long-term online relationships, live chat and phone support are the two best options.
This is because these support channels provide a direct line of communication between your business team and your customers. When your support team communicates directly with customers, they can perfectly understand customers’ needs and improve their experience. Here are a few ways you can provide the best support experience for your customers:
- Let support become your competitive advantage: Your customer base will grow if you can provide excellent support. You can use this as an advantage over competitors who offer the same services and products.
- Give your customers personal attention: If you offer your customers a live chat, support staff can take care of the problems of several customers at the same time.
- Hear: With so many customer complaints to which they respond, support teams may simply pour out the first solution they can think of. However, in order for customers to have a better experience, sales reps need to pause and listen a little so they can offer the best solution.
- Equip support agents: Your customers will have a bad experience if you keep pushing them from one team of agents to another. Equip your support team with the mastery to resolve real customer problems quickly and easily.
6. Customer loyalty programs
Another strategy to improve customer relationships and increase sales is to create a loyalty program that will benefit both old and existing customers. They can be enticed with discounts or coupons so that they can sign up for the program. They can also provide additional benefits for those who buy repeatedly.
Also show gratitude by celebrating birthdays, holidays and anniversaries with your customers with personalized messages.
Ecommerce businesses can also improve customer relationships by using applications that make their jobs easier. Regardless of the method chosen, however, every online business should aim to build strong customer relationships.
From creating insightful surveys to providing 24/7 customer support, these tips will help you build lasting relationships with your customer base.