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Gone are the days when business owners know all their customers by name. With the advent of technology and the ability to bring businesses across borders, most companies now have a customer base that spans far and wide. The problem? Keeping up with each and every of them.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools have been greatly enhanced in the past decade to help businesses keep up with customers, both existing and potential ones. In fact, it is now commonly regarded as a basic infrastructure of business akin to other necessities such as computers and an internet connection!
Keeping track of your customers will have many inherent benefits for your business in the long run. Whether you are looking to manage your customers’ needs or trying to grow your company’s reach, here are some reasons why you should keep track of your customers:
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To Meet (and Exceed) Expectations
With the customer service industry booming with growth, it is not surprising that today’s customers have high expectations from all the companies they deal with – especially ones that they do business with.
Customers expect businesses to know all about who they are, how they can be contacted, what they have purchased before, and to infer from those details to predict what they would like. They also expect to be treated promptly and individually. Businesses that are not able to keep up could potentially be deemed as irrelevant and lose these customers to another company that they feel are “treating them right”.
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To Reveal Possibilities
You never know when someone is ready to buy from you. Or what other products you have that might interest an existing customer. Why keep selling your returning customers the one same product when you can offer them bundles of various products they might enjoy? This could increase both your sales and customer satisfaction at the same time.
Organizing your contacts and their preferences according to categories can make your data more efficient and help to reveal the many possibilities that you might not otherwise be able to catch. It also wise to remember that it is easier (and cheaper!) to sell to existing customers than to gain new ones.
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To Add Value
Let’s face it – all workflows and business processes are done with one goal in mind: to add value to the company. And it is not a secret that customers can add a great deal of value to any company, and especially when their information is well-organized and kept up-to-date with.
In fact, many businesses today have been valued and sold according to both the quantity and quality of customers they bring along with them. Keeping track of everything your business has accumulated about an individual, an account, or a customer in one central location is the first step to adding value to both your company and its offerings.
The old adage of “The customer is always right” still rings true today, especially for everyone in the business and service industry. Keeping track of your customers (and being efficient about it) is undoubtedly the mandatory first step in cultivating positive customer relationships to the success of your business!
Christelle Fernandez
Operational & Administrative Consultant
www.ivirtualbusinessservices.com
iVirtual Business Services is your Operational & Administrative Solution…because you deserve work/life balance.