Recently, we discussed why COVID-19 is not enough reason for poor customer experience. In that same discussion, we discussed how you can actually scale customer service like a pro to improve the customer experience for your customers.

In a similar discussion today, we’ll touch on five key strategies to help you solidify customer relationships during these troubled times. This will no doubt reflect on your customer loyalty and retention metrics.

In a similar discussion today, we’ll touch on five key strategies to help you solidify customer relationships during these troubled times. This will no doubt reflect on your customer loyalty and retention metrics.

1. Streamline Communication and Strive for More Transparency

While we agree that COVID has made business operations a lot more challenging in most cases, keeping customers in the dark about developments has never been a great business strategy.

Customers need to know what they need to know, even if you have to deliver the bad news in a way that won’t hurt their feelings.

Are there any changes to normal business opening and closing times? Are there changes to services in any aspect? Whatever it is that customers would like to know, it helps greatly to streamline communications such that this information is passed across to ease customers of their worries and concerns.

2. Focus more on what customers value most about your brand

According to statistics from Small Biz Trends, while 65 percent of your company’s sales will come from existing customers, the probability of landing sales from new customers is only about 5% to 20%. If this is true, then you need to up your customer retention game.

How do you boost customer loyalty and retention?

Simply by building on your current strengths and minimizing your weaknesses. It’s simple. Identify what current customers value most about your brand and commit more efforts towards improving on these features and attributes.

3. Reaffirming Your Values to Your Customers in Alignment with Their Business’s Needs

It doesn’t matter what you’re doing if it barely solves your customers’ problem.

Your customers’ greatest concern is how you meet their needs. Your messages, calls, and marketing pieces must reflect this. It should be a part of your brand message so you never miss out on communicating this to clients at every opportunity. It hardly matters whether it’s the first time of rolling out your purpose and values scripts or whether you’re reaffirming these values to clients during this critical ‘business not as usual’ period. At every opportunity you get, never miss the chance to impress your clients.

4. Maintain Accurate Customer Database

A consistent, up-to-date, and accurate customer information database can make a world of difference as far as customer relationship management is concerned.

It’s important to maintain complete data, avoid duplicate leads and contact entries, as well as maintain a consistent style for data entry. Updating customer information such as transaction history, preferences, and more is important. This helps avoid mess and the need to clean up data errors. Also, it can also help improve service delivery, especially if you want to add a personal touch to your customer service.

5. Deliver Personalized Customer Experiences

We wrote recently about how customer retention can help during the pandemic. The truth is customers are oftentimes more loyal to a brand if it meets their needs for quality products or services. And one way most businesses often miss out on achieving this is through service personalization. This is where the customer database comes in.

You want to keep track of their interactions and feedback to ensure you offer services tailored to their needs. You want to show them you care and, in the process, make them feel more connected to your brand or business.

Customers want to be treated like real people, and not just some numbers.

At a time like this, you want to build on the existing relationship. Not only can this increase the possibility for long-term patronage it can also help boost your marketing efforts as loyal and satisfied customers are more likely to advocate your brands to others.

In the end, everything boils down to keeping customer service at 100% as well as backing this up with excellent support services on those occasions when customers encounter one or more challenges.

One Contact Center offers call center support and BPO services for small businesses to startups and international brands.

If you’re keen on boosting your customer experience with reliable support services, please, contact us today. We’ll be more than happy to help.