Customer Relationship Management and Marketing Go Hand-In-Hand

Once you’ve acquired a pool of customers, you can’t assume they’ll stick with you and return to purchase again and again. The relationship between your company and your customers must be nurtured and cultivated over time, which will translate into more sales and better customer retention. Customer relationship management helps keep your existing customers happy and loyal.

Why Do Customers Leave?

Customers come to your company because you have a product or service that will solve a problem they have. However, there are likely to be other businesses offering a similar solution, which means it would be relatively easy for your customers to find someone else to meet their needs. Even satisfied customers may decide to leave you and go to your competition if your customer relationship management techniques aren’t effective. Customers may leave because of:

• Unresolved complaints or conflicts that leave them unhappy or unsatisfied with your products and services.
• Perception of pricing being too high or otherwise unfair or unrealistic.
• Better offers from competitors who take advantage of your weak points.
• Lack of care, concern or engagement from your sales, marketing or management staff.

What Can You Do?

As a business owner or manager, you have some degree of control over each of these elements. Effective customer relationship management gives you ways to resolve problems and build a lasting connection that keeps your customers loyal.

• Respond quickly and with genuine interest to complaints and take all reasonable actions to resolve them.
• Keep prices as competitive as possible, or use your marketing department’s skills to explain the merits of your higher pricing.
• Shore up your weaknesses and monitor your competitors to see what they’re doing. Turn the tables and market your strengths in contrast to their weaknesses.
• At all levels of the sales process, seek genuine, personalized engagement with your customers. Provide useful information, help where you can, and show through word and action that you’re concerned about your customers’ problems and want to help them succeed.

Could an increased focus on customer relationship management help maintain better and more profitable relationships with your existing customers?