Whether you are running a multinational business or you’re a hardworking freelancer, you need customers or clients to be able to exist. Of course, that means you must be able to connect with potential and current customers most effectively. The good news is you can find out how to do that.

Listen and do something about your customers’ concerns

One of the most effective ways of connecting with your customers is to listen to what they are worried about and deal with it. In this way, you can build trust and transform an interaction into a genuine and robust relationship.

The good news about listening to customer complaints and concerns is that they are usually full of gold concerning what you can do to improve your business. Yes, they might be harder to deal with in the initial stages, but by dealing with customer concerns, you make your business better for everyone that uses it.

Don’t sell products, solve problems

Imagine you got an email this morning from a company offering products in your field. Would you be more likely to open and engage with that email if it was a promotional sales piece or a piece customized specifically to your business, showing how the products can solve a problem you are experiencing?

Most people would say the latter, and that means when you are connecting with clients, it's important you keep the focus on solving problems.

Indeed, there are many effective ways of connecting with potential customers, such as using Zoho email marketing campaigns. This is because they offer a range of email marketing options, such as A/B testing, which means you can test for yourself whether a more personal problem-solving approach works better than a purely sales and promotional one.

Make sure you have a good online presence

These days, people want your business to be available to them on the platforms where they spend the most time. That means it's useless if your customers are always online if you offer them a telephone number.

Instead, the best approach is to provide multiple ways for your customers to connect with you, including a great website, a robust social media presence and even chatbots. Traditional contact information like your postal address and phone number should be included, as this helps build trust.

Make your responses as quick as possible

No one likes to be kept waiting, and for a customer, it can quickly sour a relationship and cause them to move on to another provider. To that end, make sure any responses you send are as fast as possible, and even if you cannot respond immediately, sending an email (automated) to show you have their inquiry will help manage their expectations.

Chatbots are great for offering immediate responses to customers, as they can be programmed to connect with real customer service advisors during working hours or provide complex and organic automated responses out of hours.