5 ways to build customer relationships even during a slowdown

Customer Relationship

1. Be Wise, Ad-Wise

As a new business owner, no one understands the meaning of 'austere' better than you do. You do not have the budget for a big ad spend, but you cannot afford to stop advertising either. The prudent thing to do is to manage your ad spends well. Kaushik Chakravorty, founder of Breaking Rules, a photography institute in Mumbai, says you need to figure out which advertising avenue gets you the best leads. "Depending on your target audience, concentrate on placing your ads in a channel that works best for you instead of putting your eggs in different baskets." Since his target audience is largely cosmopolitan college-goers, Chakravorty is making the most of the social media platform and focusing his ad spend there.

2. Improve Your Customer Interface

If business is not at its peak, don't fret. Make good use of this slowdown to take a close look at your website and at your customer contact form. Shailesh Velandy, founder of e-commerce platform buynsellindia, believes that a slowdown is the best time to re-asses your website. "Begin with checking if your contact form is too long, because that's a turn-off for potential customers. Ask short, relevant questions and restrict the contact form to three fields, at best." According to him, it has been proved worldwide that business owners who have concise contact forms on their websites have often seen potential leads turning into paying customers.

3. Honesty Is The Best Policy

There will be times when an interested lead will go beyond the web interface and like to have a telephone conversation with you, to know more about what you can offer. When things are slow, business-wise, it may be very tempting to drum up your business and your product or service offering to a potential customer. Chakravorty of Breaking Rules strictly advises against it. "Be clear, honest and tell your lead exactly what you have to offer." Do not think of a lead as a naive person who has not conducted his research before taking the trouble to call you. In that case, anything you say is crucial to him or her. If you exaggerate, rest assured you will have driven him away!

4. Always Follow Up
 
The trick to turning a lead into a paying customer is adequate follow-up. Now this could be a slippery slope as you never know how much is too much or how little is too little, right? Velandy of buynsellindia believes in being cautious. So don't call him or send him an email or text message every other day. That reeks of desperation and is a major turn-off for a lead.

Chakravorty of Breaking Rules agrees. He advises that you play it by ear, depending on the nature of the customer. If a lead seems genuinely interested, it makes sense to drop in a mailer once a week or fortnight, just to keep him posted about your latest activities. Once again, you can make the most of your social networking platforms, says Chakravorty. "If a lead likes or follows you in any of these social media platforms, your job is half done as that will help him keep track of your activities without you having to send him an email or call him up to seek business."

5. Help Customers Complete A Purchase
 
If you are into e-commerce, you will encounter a host of customers who develop cold feet just before they make a payment. Here are two things to remember. Velandy of buynsellindia says it is of utmost importance that you make customers feel secure while making an online purchase. "Make sure you have a secured payment gateway to ensure that your customer does not feel that you are likely to flee with his money. Also ensure that the backend technology is working at its best so that the payment is fast, secured and hassle-free."

In spite of this, if a customer has not completed his purchase, send him reminders about his unfinished transaction. This may be in the form of better service offerings, new product lines or industry tips. In marketing parlance, this is called 'nurturing a lead' and if you can do that successfully (once again without spamming him), you are likely to turn a lead into a paying customer.
 
As a business owner, never underestimate the importance of maintaining good customer relationships. Instead of going into panic mode during a slowdown, turn adversity into an investment by nurturing your leads and turning them into gainful business over the long term.