Now more than ever it is important that your small business forms and maintains relationships with customers to ensure their experience with your business is positive. Establishing a connection with your customers keeps you top of mind and can also increases the chances customers will recommend you to their family and friends. Referrals are one of the most important ways of acquiring customers.  The overall goal of customer relationship management should be to improve your business service and to use customer information for target marketing initiatives.

Simply put, you need to build a relationship with your customer before somebody else does.

Here are a few tips to help build and maintain relationships with your customer base:

• Suggestion cards: Suggestion cards (created from a business card) are a great, inexpensive way for customers to share feedback with you about their experience with your service. These cards should include contact information, a comment section and maybe a quick rating system on service, cleanliness (if applicable for your business), and things they would want to see. Whether customers are offering ideas to improve your business, general comments about their experience or simply to say “hi,” these cards can offer a wealth of valuable information. Using these cards at our family restaurant, we are able to connect one-on-one with customers while also gathering valuable information such as email and home addresses.  This allows us to send direct marketing materials to their homes, letting customers know of offers and specials we are running. We also noticed these cards were helpful to customers who did not feel comfortable voicing their opinion face-to-face. They allowed them to be truthful about their experience and give real feedback. Suggestions from customers have helped us make some key changes to the restaurant.
• Be hands on/have a presence: When customers choose to shop with a small business, they expect a stronger one-on-one experience they wouldn’t get with larger companies. Let’s face it, Steve Jobs is not helping his customers on a one-on-one basis, but you can! As owner of your business, it’s important you set the standard on how to interact with customers by example. My family has had a visible presence in our restaurant going back to 1977 and it has allowed us to chat with customers, listen to their ideas and ultimately build relationships that increase loyalty and drive sales.
• Keep track of existing customers: You should keep records of past customers and the products they purchase from you if possible. This information can help you a few ways. First, it allows you to follow up with them to assure they are satisfied with the purchase(s) they made. Second, it gives you a chance to connect with them when special sales are occurring as well as recommend other products based on their previous purchases (i.e. “I noticed you purchased X, which would go great with a Y”). Lastly, you can use existing lists to reach out to customers who may have fallen off the radar despite being a consistent customer at one time.  Customer retention is important, and up to date lists can help with your efforts.

Remember, if you are not building a relationship with your customer base, then somebody else is.

How are you building relationships with your customers? Are you doing anything innovative that has worked in the past?