Customer Service and Relationship Building are your primary currency for making deals happen.

Turning prospects into leads, leads in customers, and customers in loyal partnerships. Any success can only be complete with a good relationship, but every day, many companies either forget or ignore this.

Much is said about the importance of the relationship after sales. However it is equally true that a good relationship is the most important element for prospective clients as well. In fact, the relationship between customer and business is of vital important when searching for, qualifying, negotiating with, and closing clients.

The relationship needs to improve during and after the process. Yes. The relationship begins with the first steps, before the sales.

Do you want to start the relationship after a service has failed? Forget it!

Contrary to what many companies think – and practice – a good relationship is the gateway to your business. Not your business card, your beautiful store, website or anything else.

If a service is not satisfactory, customers rarely finish the purchase. Furthermore, when pursued or questioned they respond with doubts and fears. Consequently, the effort taken to demonstrate that your company and product are reliable will be repaid in double. The first impression is the key to providing good customer service.

Here is some advice on turning the care of your business into the gateway to a good relationship with your customer:

Empathetic Service

Imagine you are your own customer. Would you be happy with the way your company treats you?

You must meet and relate to your customer. Think about your customer, not just your business. Consider how wonderful you could make it for the customer to do business with you.

Put yourself in a prospective – or existing – customers place. Is your pitch focused on the needs of your business, or on the real need to serve the customer.

Be available! They will contact you, if and when they want to. So it is important to be there when they need an answer. Equally, remember that nobody likes to be pressured.

There are many ways you can be available, including by telephone, social media, FAQs on your website and so on. Inform a client about these methods of communication, and then let them come to you.

Some business needs support 24/7/365, like e-commerce website for example. However, due to the costs involved (like hiring full-time staff) many companies prefer to not do it. This is where OceanConnects can help. By outsourcing your Inbound Call Centre you can be available anytime and not miss a single call, without full-time employment costs and overheads. Additionally, our Social Media Management solutions mean you can also give your customers online support anytime they need.

Focus in the Long Term

Always treat relationship building as a long term mission.

If, on a first visit, your company tries to push something onto the client, something is going wrong. Companies should not push a product or service to the customer, without being sure that this is what he needs. Ideally, you are aiming for the certainty that the purchased product or service will make a positive difference in their lives.

Nowadays, you can find many CRM tools to help you improve this relationship. However, CRM strategies demand a lot of time and planning. Often, running your business rules this out, as you have many other important subjects to take care. In this case, you may consider getting help from specialised companies.

The service – whether short term or permanent bond – is the gateway to the company. Customers either shorten or extend business through this gateway. Therefore the service, the customer service, and the company culture are all major tools in day-to-day business.

Every relationship needs to be focused on the long term.

A business relationship may come to an end. Even then, your willingness to relate to the customer and exceed their expectations and needs, must be eternal. This willpower will transform the way the company behaves with customers.

Check our Call Centre Solutions and bring your customer service to a higher level!