When things are slowing down or coming to a standstill, how do you keep your relationship going and even stronger with your clients and customers? Even if your business may be experiencing a slump, this is not the time to take a back seat when it comes to reaching out and communicating with your clients. More than ever, maintain and deepen your connection with your clientele. These entrepreneurs tell us why and how they do it.
Spreading positivity and a message of self-care
Gry Tomte, Founder and Director of HÜD Skin + Body, described how the pandemic has affected her business, which specializes in clinical skin treatments. "When COVID and the first round of lockdowns hit us, as a skin clinic, we were forced to close our doors. This meant client communication became even more crucial than ever - if clients don’t hear from us, they’ll forget about us!”
The good thing is that they have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in place. “Having already a clear and functional system around using the CRM incorporated with our booking system, we went to work on how we could use the system more effectively. We were already using our CRM for appointment confirmations, personalised clients check-in’s post-visits, and automated customer feedback. These tools are a major contributor to our 85% client retention year on year,” she explained.
“But now that clients weren’t coming in for appointments, it was time to switch gears and use it to stay in touch with updates, helpful skin tips, mindfulness videos, healthy recipes – anything to take people’s minds off the doom and gloom. Instead, we focused on spreading positivity and a message of self-care,” Gry added.
Apart from their CRM system, they also turned to social media to stay connected with their clients. “We used our Instagram platform, where we have a great loyal following, to share and link the electronic direct mails (EDMs). The response was fantastic, most of all, because we were being authentic and genuine in trying to solve the problems of our customer base, rather than hunting for a sale.”
Doing this led to a positive result in their business. “This interestingly led to a flood of new clients when the doors briefly reopened, as well as increased sales from clients who were forgotten by other clinics that had retreated and stopped communicating.”
“During this time, we also discovered that we had a huge opportunity to build on our customer experience even further by building out an educational series of emails to bring more value to our clients. We’ve since built out a full personalised in-depth education series targeted to each client’s concerns - all by linking our CRM to Mailchimp - and it’s ready to roll out when we’re back to work," Gry stated with positivity and enthusiasm.
Knowing your customers and responding to their needs
For Kate Save, CEO and Co-founder of Be Fit Food, “a positive attitude to food, and a balanced approach to nutrition is a critical factor in overall health and happiness.” Even amid a pandemic, Kate and her team make sure that they continue to deliver not only good food but also relevant information and messaging to their customers.
She shared how they did it when the health crisis began and restrictions were in place. “During the first month of COVID, we came up with posts on our social media and website that resonated to what people were going through at that time. People were concerned at that time with food hoarding, survival mode vs weight loss/health, and on immunity. The second month, we responded to people’s reaction on reduced discretionary spend and family first mindset in lockdown. We highlighted our products and delivery services while people are in isolation.”
Then as COVID Kilos were creeping in, people were becoming conscious of their health and their weight. Some were experiencing guilt from over-indulging, while others were getting ready to return to work. “We came up with the ISOCHALLENGE and the Winter 28-Day Challenge to encourage our clients during this time,” Kate remarked.
Throughout all these, Kate found that it pays to listen to the needs of their customers. They reached out to mums, 30 to 40-year-old males, women with upcoming events, and those who are 50 years old and above that are having a health scare. Among her key learnings are:
Give them what they want. “We had meal bundles, bulk buy, free delivery, value-added services, and support for the weight and health-conscious through our challenges.”
Personalised communications to clients. “We nurture our relationship with them through calls, SMS and email journeys. We also post on our social funnels with relevant messages. And then we have a dietitian support service.”
Re-model to thrive. “We adapted our business to the present situation, extending our services online and looking into click & collect vs home delivery. We also had to weigh the essentials vs the non-essentials.”
Connectivity is the key. “Knowing that most people are using technology in their day-to-day activities especially that there is an app for everything, we made our services more efficient through automation and integration. It also sped up the delivery of our products and services as well as collections.
Explore your inbox. “The pandemic made me realise that we need to have an open mind for business direction. We have to look for new sales channels and give importance to cross-referrals and customer loyalty.”
Add value, be everywhere. “We communicated our message across various channels. We did live events or podcasts and workshops. We also utilised radio and TV and PR, as well as blogs, fliers and flash signs.
Build the base and seek ROI. “Our campaigns were directed to people who have an interest in our product and philosophy. We collected data on their profiles and try campaigns to see which would work for our market.”
Build trust and loyalty. “Our clients were happy to send in their testimonials, reviews and before and after pics, which we shared for inspiration to others. We also posted free recipes to have quality engagement with them.”
How about you?
How do you strengthen your relationship with your clients during these times? Share your tips and stories through our comments section below.