10 Ideas to Build Better Customer Relationships in Your Franchise

Relationships are important for every franchise business, and arguably the most important relationship is your relationship with your customers. Stronger customer relationships will:

• Draw your customers closer to your business
• Increase the customer’s level of trust in your products and services
• Boost customer loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing
• Increase sales and revenue
• Decrease costs (because it?costs more?to sell to new customers than to old ones)

The benefits are clear, but how exactly do you build better customer relationships? In this blog post, we’ll discuss 10 things you can do to strengthen the bonds between your franchise business and your valuable customers.

10 Ideas to Build Better Customer Relationships

To build better customer relationships, you need to prioritize the customer in all that you do. These ideas will get you started.

1. Capture Customer Data in Your CRM

Before building a relationship with a customer, you need to know who they are—even basic details like their name and contact information. You can do this using a CRM – a customer relationship management system where you collect, organize, and manage this data.?

If you’re not using a CRM, now is a great time to?explore the benefits?and dive in. If you?are?using a CRM, why not look for ways to improve your processes? For example, did you know that with?FranchisePhones, you can integrate your phone system with your CRM?

2. Stay in Contact

Once you have customer information, staying in contact with them is important. After all, you can’t just assume a relationship because someone did business with you once. You have to?build?the relationship, and you do that through ongoing communication. Here are some great ways to stay in contact with your customers and create relationships.

• Email:?Create a plan to send emails regularly to your customers. Mix up sales promotions with emails that add value, such as articles and a monthly newsletter.
• Text Messaging:?Text your customers to quickly communicate order information or thank them for a purchase. You may also see if they’d like to opt-in for messages about offers and deals. By using a?VoIP cloud phone system, it’s possible to text customers from your business number.??
• Social Media:?Staying in contact doesn’t have to mean direct messages. Updating your social media pages allows you to communicate with customers and build relationships too.?

3. Be Consistent

This tip for building better customer relationships is especially important for franchise businesses. Customers expect a consistent experience when they do business with a franchise, even though locations may be run by different business owners. You can strengthen customer relationships by offering customers the same high-quality product and service every time. Regarding tip #2, your customer communication should also be consistent to build trust.?

4. Understand Expectations

Building better customer relationships requires you to ‘get in their head.’ You must know what they think, feel, and expect when interacting with your business. An ideal way to do this is by customer experience mapping. Check out?this article, where we give an example of how to map the customer experience in a pizza business. No matter what industry your franchise is in, this article will help you create your own map so you can better understand customer expectations at every stage of their journey.

5. Ask for Feedback

The best relationships are two-sided, and this is something you can build into your relationships with customers. One way to do this is to ask for feedback regularly. Feedback can guide your decision-making and help you improve your products and services. It also makes customers feel heard and increases their engagement with your franchise. From feedback forms and surveys to phone calls and live chats, there are a million ways to build customer relationships by soliciting feedback.

6. Build a Partnership

Another element of building better customer relationships is transforming the relationship from something merely transactional into a true partnership. When you become partners with your customers, they feel connected to you and like part of the team. Here are some ways to do that:

• Add Real Value:?Understand the customers’ needs and pain points so your products and services add real value to their lives.?
• Create Shared Identity:?Think about the values, goals, and interests you have in common with your customers so you can connect with them on mutual ground.
• Listen to Feedback:?We covered asking for feedback in #5. But?actually listening?to that feedback is another thing. Your customers will feel like they’re contributing when you listen and take action.

7. Be Responsive

In a?recent survey, Zendesk asked respondents, “In your opinion, which are the most important aspects of a good customer service experience.” The top two answers speak to the importance of being responsive: (1) I can resolve my issue quickly, and (2) Support is available 24/7, i.e., in real-time.

To build better customer relationships, your customers need to know that you are there for them whenever they need you. This includes quickly dealing with complaints and responding to inquiries in a timely fashion. The technology you choose plays a role too. For example,?FranchisePhones?VoIP phone system includes unlimited lines so you can be reliable and responsive to every call.

8. Reward Loyalty

Customers want to be acknowledged and rewarded for the loyalty they show to businesses, so loyalty programs are a great way to say thank you and encourage repeat business. This repeat business is crucial because customer relationships are built over time, not in a single transaction.

If you’re interested in creating a customer loyalty program, check out our?article?that will get you going in just eight simple steps! Or, if you already have a program established, we challenge you to make it bigger and better with the tips we share?here.?

9. Personalize the Experience

Today’s customers expect a personalized experience, and the?statistics?make this clear:

• 80 percent of customers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a tailored experience
• 71 percent of customers are frustrated by impersonal shopping experiences
• 72 percent of customers will only engage with personalized messaging
• 90 percent of US consumers find the idea of personalization appealing

Personalizing the customer experience can get as detailed and technical as you want. One of the simplest ways to personalize is by using the customer’s first name in interactions, whether on the phone or in the greeting of an email. You can send personalized emails, enhance phone conversations, and give good recommendations if you’re continually updating your CRM with customer information (tip #1). Check out?this article?for some personalization examples that will inspire you.?

10. Take Your Time

Just like personal relationships, you can’t rush customer relationships. If you move too fast or too soon, you might ruin what could have been a good thing. Customers will need time to build trust, which doesn’t happen overnight. The only way to build better customer relationships is to understand that it is a long-term investment that you must nurture over time.?

How Will You Build Better Customer Relationships??

Customers are the foundation of a thriving franchise business. When you take the time to build relationships with them, you’ll bring even more meaning and joy to your work. We hope this list will get you started thinking about how you can build better customer relationships in your business. And don’t forget to check out the other articles in our series on franchise relationships!

• Building Strong Relationships in Your Franchise
• 5 Ways to Develop Your Relationship with Your Franchisor
• 7 Tips for Better Employer-Employee Relationships in Franchises (and Why It Matters!)

To learn more about the author, visit https://clarityvoice.com/