Improve Customer Loyalty: 5 Steps to Becoming a Trusted Advisor

Develop relationships early and at all levels within the organization – Understanding your customer’s continuing needs and motivation requires that you have ongoing relationships at all levels of the organization from executives to the front desk superstar. The first sales meetings with the customer are critical relationship builders and will carry forward throughout the customer lifecycle. These relationships are building blocks to the overall strategy of keeping the customer informed and happy. 

Spend time training your organization on the customer relationships built in the sales process –As part of the implementation process, taking and training the rest of your organization on the different key players, personalities and institutional knowledge developed from the sales process is crucial to both organizations. This will empower all of your employees to efficiently resolve and escalate issues when needed.Customers are extremely appreciative when they see the extra attention given when issues do arise. They will view you as a trusted partner and not just a vendor.

Own the customer experience – Every customer interaction is a vulnerable touch point for encouraging or dissuading customer loyalty. Sales, marketing, finance, operations and support all need to recognize how their customer interactions impact the overall customer relationship with the entire company. A negative billing experience or a lost support ticket could possibly impact the relationship. Removing silo-based thinking and operations is the first step in creating a customer-centric experience. A common vision from the top will encourage collaboration, team work and ultimately break down any barriers between departmental organizations. The customer will see the consistency and in turn will continue to build trust between the organizations.

Develop an effective and consistent communication plan – Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are a great way to review ticket trends, service recommendations, discuss all of the great things your company is doing and having the customer take time to review any upcoming projects or technologies they are thinking about implementing. QBRs not only help showcase the value you bring to the customer, but will also continue to solidify your role as a trusted advisor. 

Bring value to the relationship – Help your customer understand your perspective and experience in the industry. If you see several customers experiencing similar challenges, share that knowledge with your customer to stimulate ongoing conversations about their challenges and help them avoid the same pitfalls. There are plenty of ways to bring value to your customer from sharing an article or a recent experience another customer had in the same industry to delivering some key points you picked up from a recent conference.