What should we do to deepen our connection with customers during a time when digital communication becomes the form of communication? What do we tell our teams when they’re at home? And how do we be there for our people without physically being there? Below are a few practices for maintaining customer relationships remotely and building new ones.
1. Listen to your team
Let’s be realistic. Your team members aren’t going to be thinking about how they can help their customers if they’re worried about what’s happening at home.
First and foremost, focus on building an inclusive, empathetic culture from the top down. Your team is watching to see how you react. Show them you care. Open up a team call or one-on-one with a personal story and invite them to share their own. Then probe deeper: How can I help? What boundaries can I respect? What are the things we should all agree on as a team?
One of the first things I did at home was organize a call twice a week with my team just to talk. This led us to create a Quip doc, where we could collect our thoughts and share what we’ve learned. You can also try inviting people to virtual happy hour. You’d be surprised to find how nice it feels – even when it’s just 15 minutes in front of a webcam.
At Salesforce, we’re helping our employees redefine their work through a variety of tools and channels – but no matter what technology you have at your disposal, every leader can be empathetic and listen. That creates team members who are ready to do the same.
2. Listen to your customers
Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
This is a time for deep listening. It’s important now more than ever. Remind your teams to really hear what their customers are concerned about and to show that they’re really there for them.
How do you do this? Set up a virtual coffee. Talk about what they’re facing. Brainstorm how to work together. Propose ideas that could solve their problems now.
One customer recently told us they needed an emergency preparedness portal to communicate with their customers. Our team turned around a prototype in two days. That customer may or may not ultimately sign a deal with us, but they’ll remember we helped them when they needed it most.
While many things feel uncertain right now, people still need to do business. Contracts are still being written. And pain points still need to be solved. Listen to your customers with empathy, and you’ll end up creating true value for them.
3. Be mindful of customers’ time
Building relationships is a fundamental part of sales and customer success. Of course, treating a prospect to dinner isn’t possible right now.
Sometimes, the best way to show respect is to be mindful of your customers’ time. Don’t let small talk overstay its welcome. Keep agendas tight and focused so your customers can get back to their work and home priorities.
If a customer made time to meet with you, treat the meeting start time as a covenant. Take careful notes, send follow-ups, and, again, focus on how you can help.
4. Learn together
Quite frankly, I don’t have all the answers. But here’s one thing that’s true no matter the situation: We are stronger when we work together, when we double down on our relationships and our community (or Ohana, as we like to call it at Salesforce).
While we were dealing with our new virtual reality, so are our customers. Together, we came out the other side – better than ever.
source: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2020/03/remote-customer-relationship-management.html
How are you managing customer relationships while working remotely? Share with us in the comments below.
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