You know how important it is to have a good relationship with your customers. You want to be personal and make them feel like you truly care about their success (because you do). However, to have a healthy relationship, you need to put certain processes in place. Processes in the form of Customer Relationship Policies are essential for building a trusting partnership.
Hours of Operation
Decide when you’ll be available to your customers. Modern technology allows us to be at our customers’ beck and call around the clock. But there’s a reason why companies establish set hours of business. Choose your “hours of operation” and make them known. When choosing these times, keep in mind the needs of those you serve. You may want to choose later or earlier weekday hours or weekends to accommodate.
Means of Communication
Decide how you will communicate with customers. Email and social media are both appropriate for business communications. You might want to be careful about texting or chatting apps. These can sometimes feel too personal and invasive. Ask yourself whether you want clients contacting you there. It’s perfectly fine to set up your preferences. If you don’t habitually use Messenger for example, there’s the risk that messages might get lost.
Make Allowances for Urgent Issues
There may be some cases where you can bend the boundaries you’ve set. For example, you might tell clients they can reach you for urgent issues over the phone. You may check your business emails once on each weekend day. In order for this to work effectively, establish clear guidelines about what’s urgent and what isn’t.
Clearly Define Your Services
Although you’d like to be there for anything your customers need, you should define exactly what services you can and can’t offer. If they want you to do something outside your defined services, decide whether you’ll do it for an additional charge, outsource it or refer it out.
Keep A Healthy Distance
Some people don’t understand boundaries, and there’s a good chance some of your customers will fall into this group. Identify these people early on and put strategies in place for dealing with them. Above all, be clear and honest with them about what is possible. Some strategies include:
- Divert conversations away from too-personal topics
- Make it clear exactly how long you can spend with them (“I have to go now. I have a meeting in a few minutes
- Acknowledge that you’ve heard what they said; don’t ignore it (“I can hear it’s very frustrating for you.”)
- Propose something positive where possible (“I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to help with this but what I can do is…..”)
Learn How to Say “No”
We instinctively don’t like to say “no.” We all want to be helpful and don’t want to offend someone by rejecting their request. But it’s sometimes necessary to firmly decline, and you should have techniques in place for doing that. You can:
- Suggest someone else who can help when you’re busy
- Arrange another time when you can do what the person is requesting
- Say “no” clearly and explain why
Building Trust
Remember that it’s not an issue of being “nice” or not. Boundaries are the foundations of healthy relationships, so you’re defining the terms of your relationship. This helps to build trust and mutual respect.
Want to learn more about how you can manage the people and situations around you? Head over to my website at www.MariCarmenPizarro.com and download my free mini course on Eliminating Business Overwhelm and discover the three pillars to manage yourself wisely.
