Social media is an amazing phenomenon in business today and it has changed the rules around how a business should work with their customers.
In the past a business could create an image of the company that they wanted to portray to their customers through branding and marketing and control how that image looked to everyone. It was easy to have a great public persona and not have a good company internally at the same time. Most businesses used sales and deals to entice people to do business with them in the moment. Once someone became a customer is the time when a business would want to build a relationship with them and encourage more sales. Loyalty systems were created for this purpose.
This way of doing business is quickly going away.
Today, a customer has the ability to “see behind the curtain” of a business and understand how they operate thanks to how easy it is to learn about a business from it’s customers and employees. With review sites and social media customers can learn about a business without having to talk with a sales person or see any marketing. Today customers know the tables have turned and they are in the driver seat. Taking the time to build relationships with customers before they spend money and show them value up front helps them feel comfortable using your service and referring their friends to you. You no longer have to wait until someone needs your service to encourage them to work with you. Now you can work with people and help them understand your value before they need you thus keeping your business top of mind in that moment of need.
Now more than ever is customer service and customer loyalty the new way to compete and grow a successful business. With social media businesses can reach far more people than ever at an amazingly low cost than before. Businesses now have the opportunity to encourage their own customers to be their best marketing. Rewarding businesses that do a good job for their customers with more business is easier than ever!
Come join the new generation of businesses that are truly growing their business with customers rather than growing a business despite customers.