Home > Communication > Customer Relationship Building Strategy #4: Communication
The fourth strategy: Communication. We live in a time of instant gratification. People can go online, type in something on their computer, and the results are up in an instant. Communication is very important but it needs to be done promptly. It is important to get back to people in a reasonable time frame. When people call you, get back to them within a few hours or a day as the latest. If it’s an e-mail, absolutely within a day to two days maximum. People want to know that you’re attentive to their needs. People will start to associate your quick response to their communications with your quick response to their needs and that’s a great association for them to make; a great reputation to have. That’s the kind of communication that you want to have. It’s not really a verbal communication per se, but it’s going to create the impression that you’re in tune with their needs. It is important that you show that you are in tune with their desire for a response and that you are there to deliver to them quickly and efficiently. If you can communicate and connect efficiently and effectively with your clients with an e-mail or with a phone call, then you can show that you are in tune with them and their needs.
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Spot on Dennis. It’s one of my pet peeves. When I’m coaching a client, I typically have a couple of my own gang call the client or email him and then track the time of the responses.
The sad thing is that it’s not a very simple thing to fix. Even if you don’t have time to provide a full answer to a question left on an email or voice mail, it takes just a few seconds to return the contact and simply acknowledge the call while negotiating a mutually comfortable time for the complete answer.
Some one would always rather hear “Hey – got your message, have to do some research. I’ll get back to you by Friday” – or something like that. As you mention, people want instant gratification – at least partial. It’s the waiting in the dark that hurts.
Hi Dennis,
I am like a sponge absorbing information that will help me become better than I was yesterday at customer service skills. I love the concepts, the ideas on how to treat my #1 Priority…my customer! I will be on this site more than not I can promise you that! I want to become the best I can be at customer service and I found this site to be very interesting. I believe that I have a strong background in customer service, I know how to listen and as I hear what the customer is saying I’m mentally writing down what I can do or what I can show to this customer to make their shopping experience successful. In the world today the competition is tough and if one is lucky enough to have that customer walk into their environment they MUST do what it takes to keep them coming back for more! Personal touches, extras as you mention, are just two things that take moments to do to lock in their trust and desire to do business with you. Trust is important. Truth is important. If you lose either you risk never seeing that person grace your doorstep again. I love helping people and I enjoy reading every word you write. Your messages are clear, true, and you have me sold on your perceptions of how customers should be treated. Thank you…
Respectfully,
Michelle
Tell me why business people do not acknowledge emails or phone calls and/or never get back to you? I am sometimes a customer and sometimes asking for a favor. Do we assume that everyone wants something from us? Perhaps I can help them, too. I know that people are busy and get a lot of emails. I am examining my selfishness; do I put people off? I do it less now that I am trying to make good connections and want to make sure I am creating reciprocity.