National Get to Know Your Customer Day
It’s National Get to Know Your Customer Day – a day to remember just how important it is to connect with your customers. This holiday is celebrated quarterly -- and for good reason. It is designed to remind businesses to reach out to customers. Knowing your clients is a fundamental part of business management, and allows you to build brand loyalty and create long-lasting relationships with your customers.
David Powell, SVP Expansion Sales at ConnectWise, shared this advice, “I think the best way to engage with clients is to be genuinely curious about their business. The most powerful phrase, when you mean it, is to say ‘that's interesting, tell me more about that!’ The more we understand our partner's business, what they do, and how they do it, the better we can align what we do to their success. When I would be onsite at a partner's location, I'd always ask for a tour. It was always interesting to me to learn the nuances of how they delivered their services and how they engaged with their end-user clients.”
You might be wondering, how do I do this? Keep reading for a few ideas on how to get to know your customer.
Snail Mail
Handwritten letters may be considered old-fashioned, but few gestures mean more to a client. Whether it is a thank you letter or birthday card, personalized notes are a great way to connect with your customers.
Looking for a tool to help you accomplish this? ConnectWise PSA™ (formerly Manage) has two features that can help. First are configurations. Partners can create a customer information Configuration Type with custom questions. These could be anything from birthdays, anniversaries, to even their favorite sports teams. The date field such as birthday and anniversary can then be monitored by workflow rules to notify you automatically. The other fields can be quickly searched. Say you wanted to send an email to clients based in Tampa and congratulate them on their big Superbowl win. You can search for customers that selected the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their favorite sports team.
Another great feature is Contact Type Alerts. These are applied to contacts and trigger an alert to appear on all tickets for contacts that have that specific type applied. This can be used for preferred method of contact, or to identify customers with a specific role at their organization.
Offer a Giveaway or Prizes
Another way to connect with your customers is through giveaways. Think about emailing out a questionnaire to your clients and offering a giveaway for completed surveys. If you have a branded item to giveaway, even better! Ask clients to post to social media with their new t-shirt or company mug and ask them to tag your company page. Now you have insight into the minds of your customers with their questionnaire answers and you also have branded photo content to use at a later time.
Host a Meet and Greet
While meeting in person might not be feasible right now -- why not take it virtual? This could take the form of a Zoom happy hour and connect your clients with not only you but also other like-minded people. You could also have users submit questions ahead of time and answer a few popular questions live.
Looking to amp up your meet and greet efforts? Consider offering a giveaway or discount code for those who join the virtual event or even a prize for feedback on the call. This is a great time to get to know your customers, and businesses should make the most out of this opportunity.
Social Media
This outlet is important for businesses because your clients are already there and you should be, too. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram -- each platform allows businesses to join the conversation and see your clients in a different light.
Businesses can post polls on Twitter or LinkedIn, and it is a great opportunity to connect with your customers. Think outside the box and ask clients fun questions that will evoke engagement.
Ask for Their Opinion
This is an overarching theme for getting to know your client. Yet, many businesses fail to ask their clients for feedback. This can be done via email or even social media. We do suggest a confidential questionnaire if you are seeking deeper insight. Clients are more likely to provide their full opinion and feedback when doing so anonymously.
VIP Clients
In ConnectWise PSA, you can set up a VIP client process. While every client is important, not all clients are VIP. Clients can be considered VIPs when they have a significant amount of agreements, their total billing is higher than the average client, or even because they treat your employees with respect and are pleasant in every interaction. They hold great importance or influence specific to your company. In ConnectWise PSA, there is an option to create VIP service-level agreements (SLAs). This allows you to outline benchmarks and expectations specific to your VIP client. An example could be setting a threshold for a shorter ticket response time. This is a great way to know who your VIP clients are and to set proper expectations for them.
Conclusion
Customers make your business successful, therefore getting to know them is a must. Whether you host a virtual happy hour, send out birthday cards each year, or use social media polls, getting to know your customers does not have to be a daunting task.