As you may know, April 15 is “Get to Know Your Customers Day,” and this national day is the perfect time for business owners to reconnect with their customer base after a particularly challenging year.
Get to Know Your Customers Day is celebrated on the third Thursday of each quarter. It’s a great reminder (and gentle nudge) to think of new ways to engage your loyal customers and learn more about them. Of course, improving customer relationships should be something small businesses strive for every day, but this event is a great way to really emphasize its importance.
For instance, what are some challenges your customers have faced over the past year? Is there something particular about your business that helped them solve those challenges, or at least made their struggles a bit easier? What do customers love most about your products and services, and what could you add or improve to make them even better?
Four ways to personalize customer connections
The past year ushered in a new era of faceless, contactless transactions. For that reason, it’s more important than ever to find ways to connect with customers on a personal level. While having the ability to slice and dice demographic data and manage your sales funnel is essential, it’s only one piece of the customer relationship puzzle. Here are four easy ways to learn more about your customers, and vice versa:
1. Ask them! Create an online survey
Surveys can be a great way to get more real-time information about your customers, including their problems, expectations, shopping habits, and even their complaints — whether it’s about you or your competitors. You can distribute your survey in many ways, such as sending an email, as a follow up after a sale, or through your social media pages. Remember to keep your survey brief and concise — perhaps no more than two or three multiple-choice questions — so customers will be more likely to answer it.
Need some help leveraging social media to engage with your customers? Click here to learn more?
Customers want to get to know the human side of your business as well. Telling your story through an email, direct mail, or social media post can help customers feel more connected to you on a personal level. This is especially true for small and family-owned businesses who have shared many of the same pandemic challenges as their customers over the past year. Sharing your story honestly — with both the ups and the downs — shows the real people behind the products and helps build more personal relationships with customers. And that, in turn, can help foster deeper customer engagement resulting in increased customer loyalty during this new year and over the long term.
2. Old-fashioned conversations (even if they have to be on social media)
The more you can engage with customers on a personal level, the better. Customers really do appreciate prompt and personal responses on social media platforms or through email. Of course, if the issue is about a specific order or a customer service issue, following up one-on-one is probably better. But when you respond personally, customers and prospects see that you care enough to take the time to engage with them.
3. Offer a customer appreciation event
Due to pandemic safety concerns, it may still be difficult to host in-person events, but there are plenty of socially distanced, online options available. For example, you could offer a gift card or raffle a giveaway or discount to the first 50 customers who share or respond to a social media post. You can also spotlight customers on social media (with their consent, of course) who have found uniquely creative or helpful ways to use your products or services.
4. Share updates about your business
Customers want to get to know the human side of your business as well. Telling your story through an email, direct mail, or social media post can help customers feel more connected to you on a personal level. This is especially true for small and family-owned businesses who have shared many of the same pandemic challenges as their customers over the past year. Sharing your story honestly — with both the ups and the downs — shows the real people behind the products and helps build more personal relationships with customers. And that, in turn, can help foster deeper customer engagement resulting in increased customer loyalty during this new year and over the long term.
Learn how to use email to tell your business’ story and keep your customers engaged
Fortunately, with the exception of a giveaway, all of these activities are free (minus the time spent creating and managing them). So even businesses that are still recovering from the pandemic can participate in Get to Know Your Customers Day without spending much money at all. And isn’t that something to celebrate?
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After a challenging year, please let us know in this quick survey how you’re planning to reconnect with your customers to get to know them better.
