Connecting warmly and effectively with customers is vital for any business, whether it operates solely online or has a physical – for example main street – presence. Talking to customers, helping them with their queries and attempting to resolve issues before they even arise will make your business feel more human, more kind and more deserving of their custom. There are a number of simple steps that a workforce can take in order to better make this connection.

Training for public facing roles

If a company is public facing, traditionally with a shop or office, then staff should be trained for such roles. Too often members of staff are recruited into a public-facing role without experience and then expected to thrive and be naturals with such responsibility. There are a number of myths to be debunked about retail workers, but there is still a large number of employees who are hired when they are young or inexperienced. These members of staff will grow into their positions and become huge assets for their employers but expecting them to do so without proper training is unfair.

The simplest, most straightforward tip for connecting with customers is to provide your employees with training to do so.

Warm welcomes

When a customer steps foot onto your premises, they should not be overwhelmed by offers of help or scared away by over-attentive staff members. A warm welcome and the demonstration that help is on offer, should a customer required it, is a far better form of connection, allowing them to enjoy their time interacting with your company on their terms.

Welcoming a customer the minute they enter your shop means they will feel more comfortable asking for help when they require it. If you operate online or offer a service rather than a product, you could offer a welcomepackage to promote loyalty and connection.

Online contact

A superb form of company to customer connection, if you do not have physical premises, is a help desk which responds to customer queries. These desks resolve issues for customers and internal employees alike, reducing the disconnection between the two. Clients with issues that remain unresolved for long periods of time will begin to lose patience with a company, especially if there is no physical shop for them to visit. Automated issue resolution processes mean connection between you and your customers can become an around the clock operation.

Customer engagement

Engaging with customers through social media or responding to online reviews adds personality to your company and makes you an approachable and understanding organisation. In store, asking customers for feedback in person is an excellent engagement technique, while it also provides you with fresh, new ideas for how to improve your business. You should be open to praise and complaints in the same capacity, using both to advance and improve how you operate in the future.

Social media

Social media is potentially the perfect modern form of customer connection. The ability to answer customer queries, engage in interesting and amusing exchanges, and share insightful information about your business to thousands should be used as often as possible.