Topic 2

Introduction
This essay will go over the value of gaining customers and the
advantages of keeping long-term, devoted clients. Customer
satisfaction is one of the most important rules for every business to
follow in this age in order to achieve the objective of sustainable
competitive advantage. Long-term customer relationships not only help
any organisation increase market share, but they also produce strong
referral rates, which raise brand recognition. An ongoing customer
connection benefits the business by generating consistent income while
the client maintains using the company's products and services. It
maintains the revenue streams in operation. A happy client would
recommend the business more often, aiding in the business' expansion.
It costs less to gain a consumer through recommendations than it
would otherwise acquire customer. By maintaining a long-term
relationship with a consumer, a business can learn about their
purchasing habits and potentially alter its approach to satisfy their
needs. This promotes business expansion.
 CRM

An organisation can interact with customers in a variety of ways to

foster long-lasting relationships and increase customer value,
satisfaction, and brand loyalty. This can be done by:
• Engaging clients
• Enabling customers to interact with your brand
• Recognizing how customers interact with your brand
Making customers feel special with social media influencer marketing.

Customers will feel more personally connected to the business if they

are engaged through the corporate website, email communications,
and social media posts, which will encourage them to continue
purchasing goods from the company. Additionally, by attracting them,
the brand's dependability rises as a result of their perception of a
personal connection with the associated brand. By giving customers the
chance to interact with your brand, you may improve customer
relationships, brand value, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty.
Compared to online purchases, buyers have a stronger connection to
an organisation when they interact with it in person and see the things
they are buying in person. Understanding how customers interact with
the association brand can help to strengthen the bond between
customers and the association.
 Developing Customer Relationships in the
Digital World

•Word of Mouth
Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM or WOMM) is the practise of
customers spreading the word about a good or service to others. It is
essentially unpaid advertising motivated by positive encounters. In the
past, it would happen in person, but nowadays, many
recommendations take place online. Word-of-mouth advertising is
crucial because it is a cost-effective and effective strategy to attract
new clients.

• Ideal Customers
Existing and potential clients make up your ideal clientele. You may
learn a lot about who to sell to and how to draw in those potential ideal
customers from your current ideal consumers (EIC) (PIC). You should
take a look at some of the crucial business data to pinpoint the ideal
clients you already have. Look at the customer satisfaction level,
average client lifetime value, and retention rate. The greatest rated
satisfaction, above average customer lifetime value, and above average
retention rate will be displayed by your ideal clients.

•Two-Way Communication
A sort of transmission called "two-way communication" occurs when
both sides exchange information. Interpersonal communication is
another name for two-way communication. Amateur radio, CB, and FRS
radio interactions are examples of common two-way communication
methods. Both instant messaging and chat rooms, digital networks look
at backchannel.

•Survey customers and get their feedback

Maintaining relationships with current consumers requires the ability to
actively gauge how they feel about your product and how well your
business is performing in comparison to their expectations. One of the
best ways to boost sales, establish trust with customers, and attract
repeat business is by giving them exactly what they want. Conducting a
survey is a very effective way to learn about the requirements and
preferences of your clients.
•Optimize your website
Your website serves as your online business card, thus it must be kept
tidy and free of clutter. According to a survey, 50 percent of customers
will give up and leave after waiting ten seconds for a page to load. It
goes without saying that slower loading websites start to lose visitors to
rivals. When customers have a bad internet experience, they criticise
the business right away. Therefore, it is crucial to optimise your website
for easy navigation and loading.

How to build customer relations

• Pay attention to outstanding communication. Timely and affordable
• The key focus should be on effective communication.
• Keep a positive outlook.
• Recognize each client for who they are.
• Exchange Information
• Outperform Expectations.

Benefits of long-term Relations

 Reduced Marketing effort

When an organisation has dependable and established customers,
it does not need to spend excessive money on advertising to
attract new customers, which also lowers overall costs. Building
long-lasting relationships with customers is fantastic, and
maintaining those relationships helps to grow business
consistently.

 Brand Advocates
When a corporation cares for its customers and provides excellent
support, the customers feel satisfied, which helps to promote
mindfulness and progress the company.
  Competitive Advantage
Having a long-lasting relationship with customers gives a business
a competitive edge since loyal customers make more purchases
and do so more frequently, all of which contribute to high
customer retention and higher business profits.

 Loyalty
When a business devotes attention to its clients and meets their
demands. This promotes consumer loyalty and builds customer
trust, both of which increase corporate profitability.

Arguments on the Positive Side

Customers are an integral aspect of the business regardless of the
sector in which it operates or the types of goods or services provided
because they bring in money for the enterprise. Without clients, a
business cannot even start, run, or exist. For a business to remain
viable, client acquisition, retention, and maintaining a long-term
connection with customers are crucial. Since consumers are a self-
assured bunch, they can quickly switch to another seller depending on
their needs. As a result, it highlights how challenging it is to bring in
new clients and strengthen existing client relationships. In general, both
gaining new consumers and keeping existing ones costs money. In
general, acquiring a new customer might cost up to 25 times as much
as keeping an old one. Keeping a long-term business relationship with
clients suggests that the referral business will provide further
advantages. Due to the current marketing environment, all firms are
concentrating on continuing to operate through internet platforms.
With this extremely competitive market platform, having a better long-
term consumer base is therefore necessary for them as well.

Arguments on negative side

The impact of offline service on the persistence of online loyalty online

client loyalty, according to some academics, is founded on offline
services and fuels online connections. So, according to that report,
businesses should primarily concentrate on customer behaviour,
loyalty, and relationships across offline channels. The statement that it
may be useless to establish long-term relationships through online
media serves to support the thesis. Long-term client connections can be
determined in both traditional and online company settings as a direct
result of consumer satisfaction with a particular good or service.
Security concerns and related expenses: To understand how to
personalise messages and services for clients, businesses must gather
personal information through digital channels. Because some
consumers are hesitant to respond to or watch adverts because they
contain sensitive information, this approach is not the same in every
situation. Building long-term relationships is a good marketing
approach that guarantees customer loyalty, but it can be expensive
when firms should be concentrating on other tasks like upkeep of
security, data protection, and data gathering technologies. Because the
newest firms use automated marketing techniques to convey their
messages and services to their clients, rather than individual levels, the
majority of businesses are unable to sustain such ties with customers at
the individual level.
Organizations that deal with consumers online should employ a variety
of automation techniques. Face-to-face engagement with clients, which
is essential for developing long-lasting customer relationships, is
eliminated as a result of this influence.

Conclusion
Focusing on connections is essential for long-term business
development now more than ever. The interactions and experiences
they have with your business are highly valued by both new and
recurring customers. Individuals will value your interest in them, even
though it could take some time, effort, and resources to turn a unique
notion into a positive Return on Relationship. Every strategy needs to
be put into effect, and in order to maintain a high level of customer
satisfaction and loyalty, it is crucial to concentrate on ongoing
improvement. Even devoted clients may end a connection with a brand
or business if the latter fails to consider their requirements and wants.
One of the most crucial skills is patience, as developing lasting
relationships with clients may occasionally be a time-consuming
process, along with being strategic and quick to act.

References
  Business Insights - Blog. 2019. The Importance of Sustainability in Business | HBS Online.
Fjrgroup.com. 2019.
 The benefits of building long-term business relationships - FJR | Recruitment Agency. [online]
 Gibbons, S., 2017. 7 Amazing Ways to Build Long-Term Relationships With Your Customers.
[online] Entrepreneur.
 Build Customer Relationships That Last. [online] Available
 Movers Development. 2021. The importance of nurturing long-term relationships with
customers | Movers Development.