Bit 'n Java

Businesses exist only because of one thing, customers. Without customers there is no business. Therefore, customer relationships  and how they are treated are key to the success and growth of your business whether online or offline.

There are many ways to develop great relationships with customers. The old fashioned way was to visit them in person and make the face to face contact so that the connection was made on what you do, what they do and how your service could improve their bottom line. Most of the time this was done using real world examples that existed and could be referred to in a conversation.

The new kid on the block for developing quality relationships with customers is social media. This new online development which came as part of the Web 2.0 philospohy has made developing relationships with prospective customers huge. In the past, your relationships with prospects was limited to how far you could travel in a day, unless you traveled overnight to a distant locale. Now through the Internet, it is now possible to build a relationship with someone in not only another city, but in other countries in the same day.

We are all familiar with comfort foods. They are the foods that make us feel good. Customer relationships work the same way. Customers will build trust in you after a while and begin to turn to you for their answers the same way they turn to their favorite comfort food when in need of something tasty and close to the heart. Therefore, it is important to keep the trust in place between you and your customer.

It has always been my belief that the customer should be treated with the utmost respect as they are the reason why you remain in business. If the customer keeps coming back to you, it is in your best interest to also help them out in some way so that they continue to spread the word about you. Great customer relationships will result in great word-of-mouth advertising, something that is greater than any advertising method available. However, it is up to the way customer relations is addressed that will determine your destiny as a professional.