Customer Lifecycle: Stage 2: Personalise your communications for effective customer relationships
When you get to know your customers, your communications will be more of what they want, expect and respond to.
If you’ve ever been sent something on email or in the post and wondered why it was sent to you – it’s because no effort was made by the sender to know who you are or if you’d be interested. Now think about when something has come through and they’ve got it spot on – it’s right up your street, something you want, need, or are pleased to know about.
In which scenario is your brand loyalty increased?
Creating a personalised experience making it relevant, is so important.
Angela experienced exactly this.
“I recently booked an Airbnb in Crete where the host was ‘welcome personified’.
He was attentive through the whole booking experience and simply asked for our flight details to ensure he was present at the villa when we arrived, to greet us. He took the time to show us around the villa rather than just refer us to the booklet (which was exceptionally well put together), and as we toured the rooms his pride in his property was effusive.
He poured us a glass of raki to toast our holiday and left a homemade snack in the fridge, to go with the pre-ordered welcome pack of essential groceries. And he told us when he’d be back during our stay and why (of course bringing more delicious food each time). When he waved us off, he simply asked that we leave a review.
And of course we left him a 5-star review and won’t hesitate to recommend his company.”
Personalised customer communication is all about starting a relationship. Start a two-way dialogue. Listen. If you were starting a new personal relationship with someone who didn’t like sport, would you keep inviting them to a footie match, even worse, with discounted tickets?
Personalisation is key, and it doesn’t have to be complex—start simple, and let the data guide you over time. But it’s more than knowing a name or a last purchase, it’s about getting under the skin of their behaviours and seeing your brand through their eyes.
In practice – set expectations
Ensure the customer knows what to expect from your email marketing and postal communications in terms of content and frequency. An instant welcome that’s relevant to them, plus next step guides – set up a profile, preferences, explore key features, join the community, follow on socials etc.
This is exactly what TIH does – ensures that the customer is guided through what’s next for them, in terms of the process and what’s relevant for them.
Read our other two blogs in this series to find out more:
Customer Lifecyle: Stage 1:
How to create an effective welcome stage – the art of finding out about who your customers really are
Customer Lifecycle: Stage 3:
Customer relationships need to be nurtured