In any business, connection with your clients is tantamount to success. If you can’t correctly cover all the necessary bases with your customers, it’ll be virtually impossible to make the number of sales you need to stay in the black. The question is, how do you connect? In today’s digital era when it’s easier than ever to communicate, true company-client connection can be difficult to find. If you want to build better relationships with your customers, give the following three tips a try.
Know Your Product
The first step to building better connections with your clients is to know your product. One of the main reasons you may be having difficulty leveling with customers is because you yourself have too many questions about what you’re doing. If you don’t understand the product you’re selling or the service you’re offering, how can you effectively sell it to someone else? Additionally, if you continuously have to direct your client to someone else so they can get their questions answered, how can you build an individual relationship with them? Giving your clients decision intelligence will help them be confident with their purchases.
By knowing your product or service inside and out, you can start to build a client connection. You won’t have to forward them to someone else for troubleshooting or answers, therefore keeping sales personal as much as possible. Along similar lines, you’ll be able to make your pitch far more successfully, with a greater likelihood of ending in a sale. Before you pencil in a client meeting, don’t be afraid to refresh your memory on what you’re selling. By knowing your product confidently, you can build better connections with customers.
Foster Individualism
The second step to building better connections with your clients is to foster individualism. Every person you meet with is an individual with their own life and stories. When you take the time and effort to learn some of that history, you give yourself a better advantage and make the sales process easier. No one likes to be treated like a number or a commodity. Your clients are no different. When you give each transaction a personal touch, you start to build connections with your customers as individuals.
So how do you foster individualism with your clients? The first way is simple- ask them their name. Knowing someone’s name rather than just the company they work for is a monumental step in the right direction. In your initial meeting, be friendly and courteous. Ask if they have kids, how long they’ve been at their company, and what sort of things they enjoy doing at work. Little questions like these are easy to slip into conversation and will help you build a personal connection with each customer, boosting sales in turn.
Prioritize Communication
The final step to building better connections with your clients is to prioritize communication. Without clear and effective communication, it’s impossible to keep your customers in the loop. If they aren’t informed about what’s happening in the buying process, the rapport you have with them will decrease, and connection will be lost. If things are bad enough, you may find yourself losing a sale down the line.
Rather than potentially losing your company a revenue stream, learn to prioritize communication with your clients early on. In your first couple of meetings with a new customer, get multiple lines of contact with them. Ask for an email address as well as a phone number, even a work mailing address if it’s applicable in their situation. The more open lines of contact you have with your clients, the easier it’ll be to build connections with them. By prioritizing open and honest communication with every customer, you can help foster better relations and boost your personal sales.
To sum things up, building lasting connections with your clients isn’t a difficult task, but it is a necessary one. Without some measure of relationship between you and your customers, your propensity for sales is greatly diminished. By following these tips, you can have a greater chance of success in your business.
