The importance of building personal relationships with your customers

A business cannot exist without customers. You need them not only to get started but all through your business lifecycle. Therefore, creating personal relationships with your clients is a must.

Much like in other areas of life, building relationships takes time and effort, but unlike relationships in our personal lives, business relationships also require planning, strategy, and vision. So before you get to work and start creating a plan, here are a few reasons why personal relationships should be a big part of that plan:

It cost less to retain existing clients than to get new ones

The statistics show that it costs 7 times more to get a new client than it costs to retain an existing client. Having that in mind, it makes it easier for business owners to understand the importance of customer retention. The efforts and resources you will need to spend to constantly generate new leads, advertise, market and convert those leads will make life very hard for your business. On the other hand, creating engagement and personal relationships with clients who know your brand is much simpler and cost-effective.

A personal approach makes loyal customers

Unlike what many think, it’s not the amazing product or prices that keep customers coming back, it’s the customer service. Bad customer service drives customers away from your brand, even if the product is good and vice versa – customers are more likely to let go of mistakes you make or even higher pricing if they feel they are getting good service in return to their money. We invite you to try and adopt new and improved customer service processes and see the impact for yourself.

Engaged customers buy more

It is also a fact that overall, satisfied customers make more purchases and contribute more to revenue than unsatisfied customers. A happy customer is a customer that is more open to new offers and is more likely to develop a long lasting relationship with your brand than a customer who had a negative experience. In the long term, a satisfied customer may not make the biggest purchases, but in time, that customer may very well come back several times and make more purchases that contribute more to your revenue than a one-time purchase from a client who never came back.

Stand out in the crowd with a personal point of view

We live in a very competitive world when it comes to business. Customers today are also becoming more sophisticated and trust blunt advertising less and less. In order for you to stand out in the crowd and leave a positive impact, a personal approach could very well be the solution.

Think about it – customers are fed up with big chain stores and networks, they are looking for a simpler, more personal and friendly shopping experience. To some extent, smaller businesses have an advantage in the sense that they can get personal with each customer and gain their loyalty even if they don’t offer the cheapest price or overnight delivery.

To summarize, building personal relationships with your clients can set you apart from competitors, it can save you money and increase your revenue for the long run. Make it your goal to create and improve relationships with your clients, you will all benefit from it.