8 Top Tips for Managing Customers in the Credit Crunch

In these challenging financial times, we are all aware how important and cost effective it is to retain existing customers and build future loyalty when securing new business.

Many small to medium sized enterprises find that as they grow, to ensure efficiency and effectiveness, it is vital to move from informal systems to more efficient computer based records. This helps to ensure that the information is up-to-date and accurate, contacts are made when promised and staff can access central records, for consistency.

To deliver a quality service to customers, you and your staff need to:

1. Find contact data quickly - even if the customer initiates an unexpected telephone call, you need to maintain an air of efficiency by locating details quickly. This will prompt you as to who is calling, from which company and provides notes from previous conversations!
2. Save time - don't reinvent the wheel! A database allows searches to be saved and used again and again.
3. Email - save time and ensure blanket coverage by sending emails direct from contact information. This can be one document such as a newsletter which is sent to everyone in your database by the press of a button, or personal messages sent to individual customers.
4. Keep clear records – if you want to give a professional service, you cannot reply on a messy collection of scribbled notes plus a random collections of Post-Its, held in different places or even by a number of different people! Consistency and ease of access have to be the order of the day. A computer based system can help store emails, notes from telephone calls, letters, meetings diaried etc and recall them at the touch of a button.
5. Target your marketing – marketing is now probably more vital than ever before, but it can be expensive in terms of both time and money. Ensure that all marketing and sales activities are as targeted as possible, by mailing specific sectors from your database.
6. Use mail merge – set-up your own direct mail campaigns to promote special offers, exhibitions, vouchers, or other marketing events. Remember, you need a critical mass of people hear about your offers, to help ensure marketing initiatives succeed!
7. Create task lists – start each day with a clear list of things to be achieved and ensure that every promise to ring a client by a certain day is honoured. Ensure you never forget that follow up call or mislay contact details again!
8. Ensure staff have access to consistent records – anyone from your business who speaks to customers should be able to access customer records. People are busy and wish to achieve their outcome in a single call where possible, so help them to achieve this. All relevant staff involved in service delivery need to know of the promises or deals made, so they can ensure sucessful, timely delivery.

ConvallisCRM is a user-friendly software package which can make Contact Management & E-mail marketing simple. For further details or for a free trial, please go to www.convalliscrm.co.uk