You have probably heard it said that Customer is King. American businessman, Michael LeBoeuf in his book “How To Win Customers & Keep Them For Life” adds that a satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.
This article helps small businesses in Kenya better understand the benefits of engaging customers, and how best to do so.
First things first
It is customers that create value and generate profit for an enterprise through their consumption. Therefore if you want to maximize profit, maximize their consumption.
With stiff competition between small businesses in Kenya, it is not enough to have a product. You must convince people that they need it, and that they should consistently get it from you and not your competitor.
Enters customer relations. It should not just be an organization department, but rather everyone’s job.
They must feel valued and cared for as human beings, and not just sales numbers.
Strategies for effective customer relations
A business should have a customer relations model that properly targets potential and existing customers, minimizes cost and ensures consistency.
Below are simple options for small businesses in Kenya:
- Social media marketing- You begin by drawing in potential customers, and social media is a powerful tool.
- Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram allow personalized marketing through ads that target users based on age, gender, preferences, location, etc.
- With short videos and posters, businesses can easily communicate their brand to a large audience at low cost and consistently, based on a pre-set schedule.
- Chat bots- After getting their attention, customers can be retained through chat bots on business websites or social media pages.
- Most Kenyan small businesses cannot afford round-the-clock customer care personnel. Chat bots can be used to automatically answer frequently asked questions and resolve common issues.
- Mailing lists- Especially for e-commerce, customers can include their email addresses when visiting your website.
- With marketing automation software, they will easily get regular email updates on promotions, past transactions, complaints handling, etc.
- POS Systems- Aside from facilitating wireless transactions, they can be used to capture customer information such as name and phone number, for proper follow up.
- One can also track purchase history through the system and use this to provide personalized marketing to customers. Read our article for more information on POS systems.
Other Recommendations
If customer is king, then employee is queen. Many times, the queen runs the kingdom. If you treat her right, then the king will be happy.
We welcome you to read our article on effective employee management for maximum productivity and customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
When properly engaged, customers can become loyal to a brand for years to come.
They can also turn into marketers in their communities and this is important, as most small businesses grow from referrals.