You can’t imagine how much your friends could teach you about customer relationships

Written by Sonal Jaiswal | Evangelist, Customer Guru

The Friendship Day just went by. And boy, did we see some amazing hype created about it! But then, it is a day worth being celebrated. No one can deny the place that a friend holds in one’s life. They make it beautiful, fun-filled and worth living. Friendship is one of the most amazing bonds ever. There are no rules, no conditions and nothing that binds – it is just pure, unconditional love.

In this article, we bring in the similarities between Friends, and an Organisation and its Customers. Here are a few qualities generally associated with friends, however, we believe that every organisation MUST have a similar relationship with their customers:

Loyal and trustworthy

Every organisation must ensure that their customers stay loyal to them, and that, just like friendship, is a two way street. If an organisation wows its customers and ensures they are happy, the organisation will be rewarded with undying customer loyalty.

Selfless

Mahatma Gandhi once said,

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Just like friends don’t think about what they’d get in return before helping a friend, this quote exemplifies how any organisation must serve its customers; for it would be nothing without them.

A great listener

The Voice of The Customer tells you many a things! An organisation must always lend an ear to what the customers have to say. It could be with respect to feedback (both positive and negative), grievances, suggestions or plain and simple ideas. Always listen – it connects.

Caring

Like every friend does, it is important for any company to genuinely care for its customers and their happiness. It is said that friends can turn a horrible day to one of the best days of one’s life – try being that friend.

Not judgmental

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you”, said Elbert Hubbard.

Need we say anymore?

Respectful

Every organisation must be respectful of their customers’ feedback, thoughts, ideas. Not just that, it must go the extra mile in acting upon and making customers feel that their opinions count.

Dependable

Isn’t it amazing to have that one friend whom you can always count on to get you out of any untoward situation? How amazing would it be if your customers look up to you to always get them out of troubles? Go ahead, and be that friend!

Are there any other qualities that we missed? We would love to hear from you!