How’s your customer outreach? You might be looking at how to secure new customers and follow up on leads, but are you also keeping your existing customers happy?
We hear a lot about customer engagement and outreach these days. More than ever before, companies are accessible and interacting with their customers on a daily basis, whether it’s commenting on a photo of your product on their Instagram page, interacting with them on Facebook, or tracking your ROI on your last direct mail postcard coupon. We have our finger on the pulse of our customers like never before—and yet, many of us wonder, “Am I connecting with my customers enough?”
After all, holding on to those existing customers is really your bread and butter. We’ve all heard that it takes months to win a customer, and just seconds to lose one. If we aren’t constantly engaging, connecting, and interacting with our customers, they will take their business elsewhere.
The good news is, there are many ways to connect with your customers—many of which you may already be doing well.
1. Keep your brand consistent
When it comes to customer outreach, your brand is the face of your company. That means business cards, letterhead, your website, and signage should all stay consistent and on point. Include your logo on everything, and make sure it’s high-quality and has great resolution.
Your brand is more than just your logo. Correspondence as well as website and social media content should all match the personality and “voice” of your company. Have a go-to style guideline for all employees so they can be certain they’re representing your company or organization in the way you’d like to be seen. If you have a preferred font, color, and even certain personality traits you’d like associated with your brand, include them in your guidelines. Customers should know when they read or receive something from you it’s clearly representative of the business they’re familiar with and they’re expecting.
2. Share your story
In many ways your story and your brand are intertwined. Whether you’re innovative, trustworthy, young, hip, health-conscious or cutting edge, your brand and the story of your brand should reflect it. Your customers are a key part of your story. They are the audience and the characters. They represent the lives you touch and the mark you make on the world.
Share your story with your customers, and ask them to share their story with you. Use visual content, and make the story speak to your audience. Listen, and learn what you’re doing well, and what you can do better. Everyone wants to be part of a story when they have a role. Help your customers understand how critical their role is, and they will continue to join in the narrative.
3. Jump into social media
It’s nearly impossible to talk about customer outreach without talking about social media. We’ve become a very social society and customers love to know they can connect with you, share your posts, ask you questions and get answers. Social media makes us more accessible to our audience. It puts faces and voices to your brand and helps you get your story out there.
Consider ways to build your social media to target your audience. Find out where your customers hang out on the web when they’re looking for you. Do they “like” you on Facebook? Do they follow you on Instagram or Twitter, or do they prefer to read your business insights on LinkedIn? Would a YouTube tutorial from a designer really help them connect with you? The great part about social media is you can cross-post content from one forum to another. Material for your newsletter can be great content for your Facebook feed. Share your latest blog post on LinkedIn, or post your Instagram photos to your website’s photo gallery.
4. Test communication to hit your target audience
To gauge your audience response and consider, “Am I connecting with my customers enough?” you must watch your analytics and measure your responses. Use your CRM to sort and segment your customer base. Find commonalities—by demographics, by purchases or based on your interactions. What do your customers respond to, and what makes them tick?
Perhaps your customers are concentrated in a certain area, where posting yard signs, or sending out advertisements would give you great results. Maybe your customers tend to be in a certain age range, or have a similar hobby that led them to your company. Maybe they respond well to humorous posts and ads, or maybe they prefer informational correspondence. Find out which communication methods are really speaking to them by tracking your responses and playing off your hits (and of course, learning from your misses).
5. Consider an old-fashioned call
When was the last time a company called you to thank you for your business? If you really want to know how satisfied your customers are, you need to actually speak with a few of them!
While every CEO doesn’t have time to call customers and thank them, having opportunities to interact with a few customers, either through phone calls or in-person can go far. Have customers send in questions and respond online, or the next time you hear about a customer concern, pick up the phone and deal with it directly! Find out what makes your customers tick by talking to them.
6. Reach your customers regularly
Depending on your product, it may be appropriate to reach out to your customers weekly, monthly, or annually. If you sell air conditioning units, then you may want to set reminders to follow up on sales and service once a year, before the warm season hits. If you run a retail business or a restaurant you may want to inform them about weekly or monthly sales and specials.
Whatever the frequency, the important part is to be consistent and keep track of data like the date of your last interaction and the outcome. Anticipate your customer’s needs and be sure to reach out to them before they know they need to start looking for you. If a customer has to track down someone to meet their need, whether it’s a new shirt or a new roof, they could always find your competitor in course of their search. Head them off by reaching out to them just before they need you!
7. Be innovative and creative
When it comes to customer outreach, innovation and creativity will get you far! Maybe you find out your banking customers bring their kids and dogs in the drive-through—how can you brighten their day and meet their needs? By keeping their companions happy with a lollipop and a dog biscuit. Little touches that say “I noticed” can really speak to your customers and add a personal touch.
Have you considered sending your clients an anniversary card, or a coupon on their birthday? Do you have a holiday card list, and do you make your correspondence timely but still relevant? If your company sees a spike in business during tax season, at the end of year or during the summer months, play up that connection and come up with creative ways to let them know they’re on your mind.
8. Perfect your listening skills at trade shows and networking events
We don’t all love networking events and trade shows. Yet they’re a great chance to tell new people about what you do, and connect with your target audience. Find events that are relevant to your customers and constituents and when you attend, go with open ears. Listen to what your customers want. How can you better meet their needs and what sorts of things are sparking their interest?
Whenever you meet a customer or a potential customer, look at it as a great opportunity to learn more about your audience. Find out how your product or service has relevance to their lives and what they need. Ask what’s important to them. Rather than concentrating on selling, convincing, and closing, focus on finding out their needs and how you can fulfill them.
9. Tap into your customer advocates
Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth advertising and customer endorsements. If you really want to reach your audience, have then do it for you. When a customer hears about a great experience from someone they can relate to, they make a connection. They feel understood, respected, and recognized.
When you have a happy customer ask them for an endorsement. Collect those quotes and kudos and keep them handy. When someone sends you an email to tell you about a great job you did, ask if you can share their praise on your website or on your social media. Ask them if they’ll give you a review and advocate for you.
10. Give back to your community
If you want to connect with your customers, be sure you’re supporting the community around you. This means that when the Little League team needs a sponsor or someone asks you if you’d buy a $50 seat at their golf outing, say yes. For very little cost, community sponsorships and partnerships can get your name out there, and let customers know you’re a business who really cares about them and their neighborhood.
To really build trust and connect with customers you have to identify what’s important to them, and where their priorities intersect with yours. If you live in the same community, hang out on the same social media sites, or have common interests, chance are you’ll find a good foothold to really connect with your customers, and boost your engagement in the process!
