Client communication is important to every businesses success. Whether it’s one on one, over mass email, or through social media, good communication helps your customers connect and stay with you. Here’s our top 6 client, or customer, communication tips!
1. Know and share your communication style with your team.
Do a quick communication assessment for yourself and learn how to identify how your clients communication style. This way, no one will take your short and concise “just the facts” emails as “cold and unapproachable”. Instead, they understand that you value their time and you can chat about kids and pets when there’s not an agenda to tend to. This also allows you to meet your clients needs when you communicate one on one by using their preferred communication style. Here’s a couple good links to look at as a start, there are tons of resources out there of course for finding your communication style and different systems for breaking it down.
Forbes 4 Communication Styles
4 Communication Styles Quiz
2. Be as great in print as you are in person.
Keep it professionally personal. Here’s what we mean, write to a single person because that’s who’s really reading your copy. Make your written communication just as clear and time saving as your in person dialogue. Always ask yourself before scheduling a meeting “can this be clearly conveyed with an email or phone call”. Show your respect for everyone’s time and make all your meetings have a clear start and end time and a specific agenda, then stick to those boundaries.
3. Get in their heads.
In order to do this you MUST listen. Listen and keep listening, this way you can discover how they think, what are their top NEEDS and FRUSTRATIONS, what problems you can solve for them, and describe your offers with THEIR OWN WORDS. Take careful note of the emotions that drive them to your business; do they purchase from you to feel elated, more secure, luxurious, creative, or smart? Or maybe all of those? Make sure all your copy and communications are aligned with meeting those emotional and physical needs they already expect your brand to fulfill.
You can do an ideal customer mind map or you can sit down with your best customers and listen to them at length for the jewels of marketing, the language that will most clearly describe why they need your services in the most personally relatable way. Here is an ideal customer TEMPLATE.
4. USE STORIES! FACTS TELL STORIES SELL
There’s always some sort of formative story behind your brand, everyone has this story. Sharing it in your website, newsletters, and social media gives your brand depth and authenticity. Clients are loyal to the brands they trust and share common beliefs with. A great example of a story that teaches people about business is “Who Moved My Cheese”, another story unveils the mysteries of finance in “The Latte Factor”, and a favorite story that teaches us about believing in ourselves is the beloved tale “The Alchemist”.
5. Bring it back to your brand values, your why
When it’s your turn to talk – tell them what you stand for, never miss an opportunity to share with your customers the extra lengths you go to to make sure your business does good for our world. Your brand values should always carry through your communication. There are no limits to how we can use our business as a platform for positive change. Tell them how you’re going about it, this exchange of ideas is so positive and powerful for both parties. Imagine what your clients can do once they are inspired by your examples.
6. Be grateful for their attention!
In this day and age we should be tickled pink that anyone wants to give us more than a few seconds of their precious attention and hopefully some of their hard earned cash. Deeply value and respect all of your customers and followers. Honor their time by making your communication as valuable as possible, answer their biggest questions, make them smile, inspire new ideas, renew their faith in your industry and the values you both stand for. Whether you have 100 followers or 100 million, treat them like gold because that’s what they are!
Your Thoughts?
What tip was most helpful for you? Share your thoughts and any tips you have for having great communication with your clients here on our blog. Thank you!
