Managing customer relationships

To succeed in business today, you need to develop a real relationship with your customers. An authentic approach to managing customer relationships can help you shine through and win out over your competition.

Marketing and PR are supposed to help you build connections, manage relationships and inspire loyalty in your customers. But many businesses seem to be limiting themselves to advertising their low prices, top quality and some vague “commitment to customer service”.

In this connection-deprived age, where everyone is time-poor and relationship-starved, authentic and emotive connections with people are increasingly necessary. The standard quality of most products or services is already high enough, we can generally afford most of the things we need and a “commitment to customer service” is about as essential as breathing if you are serious about staying in business.

Business is about connecting and working with people. At the fundamental level, everyone wants to feel connected with others, to be heard and valued. We prefer to deal with people who act as one with their values. We naturally distrust those people who consistently shirk their promises, or those who change their tune rapidly depending on the situation.

Customers are most likley to stay loyal when you demonstrate integrity and authenticity...the attitude of being wholly who you are. They need to see you living, working and engaging with others in a way that is truthful to your values and ethics.

For soloists, to be authentic means designing your business to reflect your personal values. Authenticity means you are the same person at work and outside of work. In other words, you are wholly and consciously present in your business.

Does your business treat people in the same way you do as a person? If you are a generous person, is your business generous to the community? If you are an honest person, does your business unambiguously reflect this honesty?

If you are used to having a different persona at work and away from work, being authentic will be a challenge at first. This is especially true if you have set up your business based on conventionally accepted practices and have not yet considered the implications of these practices on the way you engage with people.

Then there is always the pressure to conform and the fear of appearing less valid to the outside world because you may choose to do something differently.

But the price of authenticity is worth it, because maintaining a façade is hard work! When you are operating in a way that is true to who you are, there is less of a need to learn and remember blind rules. Think dating…

A person or business with integrity will behave consistently with those rules every time, regardless of the situation. In fact, those rules may be quite obvious to people who know that person or business well. Think of your closest friend (assuming this person is someone with integrity) – I reckon you can list at least three rules of theirs.

Integrity means not conceding to someone else’s points just to avoid conflict. It means not twisting your rules (or values) to suit your advantage or for your immediate comfort.

Having integrity requires faith. Be clear about your values and stick by them, even in the face of great cost, loss or adversity. You need to have faith that when you stick to your truth, the right things for you will come about, eventually.

In a crowded market, your actions count more than ever before. The best marketing and PR may well get you some immediate attention, but that won’t translate to loyalty and commitment if your actions don’t bear out your integrity. Remember: as the social creatures that we are, we are actually very good at sensing the lack of authenticity.

If you want inspire loyalty, you need to start by making genuine connections with people. Be real. Be yourself. Make your actions count.

Zern Liew is a thinking designer who uses his creative problem solving skills to help clients build beautiful businesses.

5 comments | Add your own

Hi Zern - its great to read an article like this, for too many people lose integrity to convenience. We teach our children to lie so as not to offend others, then excuse ourselves for telling 'little white lies' and before we know it, we have little or no integrity left. However, to me, this proverb says it all - "there is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience". Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles
Hey Zern, I loved your article. I have found in my business (business networking group) I have gained more respect from my client base/members by telling them like it is and not fluffing around the edges. If they ask for my opinion on their marketing they will get an honest perspective, if I think it is poor I will let them know but also give them direction on a clear path forward. If more of society was more honest we would get a lot more done and our results would flourish clients and businesses. Ben Angel - www.nationwidenetworking.com.au from Melbourne
Thanks for the comments guys. I must admit that I still catch myself saying "little nice things" sometimes instead of telling it absolutely as it is. When it comes telling it as it is, one thing I try never to do is preempt the unpleasant news with a compliment... It does take constant vigilance to keep this integrity thing happening doesn't it?! :) Zern from eicolab
Hi Zern,
Interesting article.. As a soloist.. the thing that i say to both my client and artists is that my phone is always on till 1am everyday even on the weekend(because i am up anyway why not take a call occassionally), and always comment a comics good job( even if their set was average.. they know that, it doesnt need to be driven home in that moment) then I shout them a beer and thanku for them for coming.
I may not have the financial backing to create fancy huge rooms( at the expense of lack of personal touch to the artists) both clientele and Artist have my undivided attention at any given moment.. and those ppl have stayed loyal to the new room because they see where i am going with the vision.. to those artist who are focused on paid gigs.. then i diplomatically say that they have the choice not to visit, as those comics will never be satisfied with the condition of the venue, no matter how big or small.
So if there is one tip that i can give someone, is that go that extra mile.. after the office phone is switched off be accessible at least for a few hours more... because someone might be stuck in traffic or delayed.. that 30 minutes of your time could mean thousands extra to the companies bottomline. And as a soloist that is the whole point of increasing the bottomline as efficiently as possible. darrell_dower from Brisbane
Sounds like you have it sorted Darrell! If your intention is to genuinely enable artists to get their material out there, you will naturally be more understanding and authentic. In turn, the artists will sense that and come to you, regardless of whether you have the best/biggest room or not! And they will tell their friends, and remember you when they make it big. Lo and behold, the bottomline takes care of itself. Zern Liew from eicolab | Read my articles

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