How would you feel if the way you manage your customer relationships was your core business strategy?

Is the way you engage with your customers the ‘Ace Card’ in your business?

Managing your relationship with your customers is about so much more than a software package, automated customer touch-points, digitalisation, consultative selling, customer journey mapping, customer experience etc.  It is, in reality, your survival strategy and your way to absolutely thrive.

It is all about building and managing your business around your customers – putting your customers at the heart of your business process design, or for many, redesign.

Customers now more than ever, expect to be able to deal with your business when they want, where they want and how they want. They expect their preferences, their previous transactions and engagement with your business and your employees to be remembered and to be of a very high standard.

If you want to keep your customers and to build your relationship with them, you need to have a customer-centred relationship management model in operation. This will guide your employees in managing your customer relationships consistently throughout the entire business, and in driving your business strategy.

The value to your customers from consistently applying this relationship management model is significant.  Imagine how they benefit from these:

• Having one key person for all their enquiries, concerns and (if any) complaints;
• Feeling this key person genuinely cares about them, their business and how they can support and guide them with your products and services;
• Knowing their specific business and personal needs will be factored into your product and service solutions;
• If problems arise, they will know how long it will take to solve and be kept updated on progress;
• Knowing their personal and transaction data is fully integrated across all your systems and more importantly, protected;
• Being treated with dignity and respect at all times and by all staff members they may meet during the lifetime of their relationship with your business;
• Knowing they are far more to you than just a client or account number, a transaction, a nameless statistic or a means to an end;
• Knowing they are welcome to offer suggestions to you, to shape the culture and way of doing business with your organisation;
• Feeling like they are partners with you, with each of you contributing to the other;
• And always knowing that you and your staff strive to exceed their expectations daily.

Did you find this article helpful?

Let me know what you think about this post in the comments box below.