Building strong relationships with your customers can have many benefits for the business owner, aside from simple profits. Here are three other benefits which your customers can provide, which are also valuable:
1. Customers can also provide leads and referrals
Your existing base of customers can often be the best source of providing new sales leads, as well as referrals who can also benefit from your products and services. The best part is that you simply have to get into the habit of asking every customer for these. Sometimes, it may take some careful questioning: Has the customer met any people who are new to the area? Do some of the people they know share characteristics which are common to your current base of customers? Maybe your customers even know of people who would be ideal for a new product or service you are planning. However, you will never find out about these people, unless you ask... Read more
2. Customers can give you insight into your competition
Customers are also an excellent source of competitive intelligence. They can keep you informed of what competitors are doing, and better still, you do not even have to pay them in order to acquire this information. It can also be a worthwhile exercise to ask your customers a little about your competitors: Have they tried them? If they have, what prompted them to switch to your firm? What other factors do they consider important, which might cause them to switch in the future? Once you know these answers, you can make them a focal point of your customer service efforts, so you do not share your competitors' fate.
3. Customers can help give you ideas for new developments
Your customers probably know what they want, or what they are willing to spend money on, in most cases. By getting this information, you make it more likely you will retain these customers well into the future. In some cases, your customers may develop the products or services for you, and you can do the job of selling it to others, in exchange for a share of the profits. This can benefit both your business, and your customers further.
Therefore, since customers can do such a great job of providing new sales leads, providing competitive intelligence, and providing new product and service suggestions, you should seek to create the strongest possible relationships with them that you can. Your business will benefit immeasurably when you do so.
Copyright 2010, by Marc Mays
Marc Mays is the creator of http://www.myplatinumparachute.com/, which helps first-time small business owners obtain the critical skills needed for their small business success.
