Communicating with your customers like they are prospects is a dangerous game

When you’re communicating to prospects, you don’t know too much about who you’re talking to. For the most part, that’s usually fine for prospect marketing. You send out all kinds of offers, promotions, and one-way communications across various channels to reach as many as possible, measuring campaign successes through open rates and click-throughs.

With customers who’ve already bought into your business, things are different…

These are people who’ve already invested their time and money in you. They’ve told you who they are, they’ve signed up for your services, and they’re expecting a personal service in return.

Many companies fail to build trust with their existing customers because they are communicating with them using the same one-way approach as they do with prospects, such as sending generic emails in bulk.

To gain trust, handle your customer interactions with care — consider what, when, how often, and in what way you should communicating with them. This care comes from the information customers share, which they trust you to use wisely.

Customers want you to demonstrate that you understand them.
They expect you to grasp their situations.
Customers wish to be heard as individuals and want your service tailored to their preferences.

“But if you treat your customers like strangers, you risk facing the consequences.”

By meeting these expectations, customers are more likely to invest their time and money in your business. But if you treat them like strangers, you risk facing the consequences.

Today’s customers are smart, connected, tech-savvy, and highly unpredictable. Customers have numerous brand options and can easily switch companies. Customer experience can either make or break a business – it is a simple as that.

“Customer experience can either make or break a business – it is as simple as that.”

Poor customer experience not only drives customers away but also prompts them to share their negative experiences with friends. So stop treating customers like prospects and start maximizing your customer relationships.