In today’s business climate it is so important to take care of your customers better than you ever have before.

It’s important to continuously engage your customers  and have as many touch points as possible. Find more ways to connect with your customers. For example companies that are engaging regularly with their customers using social media are seeing an increase in consumer loyalty.

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3 Ways To Improve Customer Engagement

1. Embrace technology

You have to go where your clients are, so if that means getting with the digital age to stay in contact with your clients then you just may have to bite the bullet and get active in social media. Your customers are already interacting with people and companies and sharing their perspective across social platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Are you?

2. Two way communication

Encourage your customers to provide you with feedback, make it easy for them to share how they feel about your products and services. People naturally want to be heard, yet very rarely do companies ask their customers to share their thoughts and feelings about the products or services they’ve been receiving. This is tremendously valuable information to you as a business owner as you have the opportunity to improve your business and attract more customers.

3. Provide value

Gone are the days of companies only communicating with customers when they are trying to sell something. Today is important to look for new ways to engage your customers by providing value. What value-added services can you provide? How can you make your customers experience better? A great example is a local Kelowna dentist who added massage chairs in his clinic and iPods for people to listen to. These were simple, relatively inexpensive and has helped him improve loyalty and referrals.

Studies show that customers are willing to spend on average 13% more money with companies they feel provide above average service. So instead of looking at ways to reduce prices to attract more customers, start looking at ways in which you can improve your service so that your customers will be more loyal, willing to pay more and refer you to others.

What has been the most effective customer engagement tactic you’ve used in your business?

Related: How Your Business Can Avoid Competing On Price

About the Author  
Ken Davidson is a Chartered Accountant with BDO Canada LLP, with their Kelowna accounting firm. Ken specializes in helping Kelowna businesses that are in start-up mode, companies in Kelowna that are in their growth phase and are ready to take their revenues to the next level, and professionals to secure their financial future with solid investment advice. Ken is best known for his strategic planning advice that positions him as a trusted advisor above and beyond being a Kelowna accountant that gives typical tax planning advice. To contact Ken for a Strategic Business Review to learn how he may be able to help your Kelowna business, email him at kdavidson@bdo.ca.