by Janice Heath

Created on: December 17, 2010   Last Updated: December 20, 2010

Building relationships with customers is the most important activity a business can conduct.  This should be high on the agenda of any company seeking to improve its sales and minimize customer complaints.   With a good relationship in place between a business and its customers, word of mouth recommendations increase and any problems that arise can be solved from a position of mutual respect. 

So how do you go about building relationships with your customers? Here are five ideas calculated to help in the development of stronger customer relationships. 

1.    Get to Know Your Customers

The type of business you run will influence the ways in which you are able to interact with your customers.  If you have few customers it is possible to build personal relationships with them and get a very clear idea of their needs and wants. If it is practical, go out and meet your customers, if applicable, visit their businesses and find out what is working for them and what goods and services they may need in the future. If you have millions of customers then you may have to rely on contact via email, the company website, social media and customer satisfaction surveys.  Whatever methodology you use, getting to know your customers can greatly enhance your ability to identify and service their needs.

2.    Give Your Customers Reason to Trust You

All relationships are based on some level of trust.  Most people would prefer to deal with a company that has a reputation for reliability.  Earning a customer’s trust is not difficult: just listen to the customer’s needs, do what you say you are going to do and be available and interested whenever they have a problem.  Trust and loyalty naturally follow when customers continue to have good experiences when dealing with a particular business.

3.    Know What the Customer Wants Before They Do

Keeping abreast with all new developments in your industry and knowing your customers enables you to easily match their needs with any new products and services that emerge which may be relevant to them.  As Zig Ziglar once said: "You can get anything in life you want if you help enough people get what they want."  So help your customers to get what they want, even before they know it is available.  You then become a partner in their life or business in the sense that you have created a “team” environment by being

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