The importance of customer engagement in building your business
Relationships need nurturing. And this rule applies to more than just our personal connections. Just like our significant personal ties, our business relationship with our clients needs tending and attention.
So if you want to maintain a successful business, you can’t afford to get lazy with your efforts at customer engagement. Effective engagement strategies are indispensable in today’s highly competitive digital world. Thankfully, we’ve laid out a list of tips to help you build better connections with prospective clients and current customers right now.
- Seven Touches
Have you heard that it takes multiple “touches” to close a sale in business? Well, what exactly is a touch, and how many does it take to close the deal?
A touch might be a phone call, text, email, a meet-up, a postcard, a digital business card, or a visit to your website. And on average, studies show that it takes at least seven touches to close a sale. Seven. At least.
That’s why it’s crucial that you continue to reach out to prospective clients through varying means after your initial “ touch.” While it may seem like overkill or that you are wasting your time on a person who is just not interested, the odds are that you will retain that client not after the first touch but after seven. So, don’t give up too soon. You’re likely to lose out on a sale if you do.
- The Follow-Up
Following up with your clients is invaluable for growing your customer base. If you take the time to check in on those you’ve worked with before, they are more likely to support your business.
Following up also allows you to correct instances where your customer relationships need improvement. And, clients that you follow up with are more likely to stay loyal to your office and to pass on positive word of mouth about it.
- What’s your elevator pitch?
We are all familiar with the “elevator pitch”- a short, memorable description of what you do and why you are the best at it. It’s important to spend time crafting and rehearsing a magnetic elevator pitch that draws in clients. After all, it’s easy for these to be forgettable to others if you haven’t spent the time to take the pitch seriously.
The goal should be to get to that second conversation, not to get the person to hire you. Then, once you get to that second conversation, you are already on a second touch, increasing your chances of closing the deal.
Your pitch should be engaging, friendly, informative, and even helpful or clever. This is your moment to shine. Take advantage of it.
Takeaway
Client engagement is evolving as fast as our world. The good news is that with so many new ways to interact with our clients both in-person and digitally, there is a multitude of opportunities to build a strong customer base and brand loyalty.
Because when we engage with our customers both before and after the sale, we create clients who are our very own brand advocates. These customers feel seen and heard, and become a part of our sales force, supporting our business and advocating for others to do so too.
So, take the time to nurture your client relationships. They will nurture you in return.