How do you communicate with your customers right now? Assuming you do (which you should, as it keeps you in their minds and gives them a positive feeling and opinion about you), then it’s likely that you’ll use emails or phone calls to stay in touch. 

Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, and these communication methods can be fantastic and really work a treat, but if you’re trying to find a way to stand out from the crowd and perhaps differentiate yourself from your competition, you’ll need to think much further outside the box. Doing the same thing as everyone else isn’t bad exactly, especially if it’s something your customers are used to, but doing something different that makes you more memorable and still gets your message across… now that makes a lot of sense. With that in mind, here are some options to consider that could mean you pull ahead in the race to become the best there is. Read on to find out more. 

Use AI

AI, otherwise known as artificial intelligence, is something that is still a bit of a mystery to a lot of people, with some worrying about it and some ignoring it entirely. Savvy business owners, however, will want to use it where they can to improve their business and make it more successful. 

Far from taking over from people or making things very clinical and impersonal, the fact is that good AI can make a huge difference and be a wonderful way to connect with your customers in the right way, making you stand out and ensuring people get the right information at all times. 

One of the best ways a business can use AI, at least in terms of communication, is by installing a chatbot on their website. A chatbot will effectively answer simple queries from customers or website visits, giving them quick answers with the information they’re looking for. When it comes to more complex questions, the chatbot will point the customer towards your customer service team. 

Why is this good? To begin with, it means customers don’t have to wait for ages for a customer service agent to be available to help them – they can get plenty of information from the chatbot instead. For those who need more help, the customer service agents will have more time because a lot of queries are being dealt with by the chatbot, so they can give much more in-depth answers and make sure the customer is completely happy. Whatever way you look at it, this innovative way to communicate will certainly help you stand out. 

Invite Them To See You

You know you have customers who want to know more about what you do, so how do you give them that information? You might write a blog or even film a vlog, helping them to understand what you do and what you sell (and how it can help them, of course). Or maybe you’ve got a regular newsletter you send out to anyone who’s signed up to receive it, and you offer lots of information there, including info about upcoming sales and new products. Maybe you post on social media and update people that way. 

These are all great options, but wouldn’t it be amazing if you could talk to everyone who wanted to learn more about you in one go at one time? Well, why don’t you? You can invite anyone who’s interested to come along to an event at a specific time and place, where you can give them loads of insight into your business and explain what you can do for them. 

Of course, people aren’t going to want to give up their free time without getting something in return, so as well as providing them with information, you’ll need to make the event worthwhile. You can provide food and drink, for example, and have entertainment like music, games, and other party rentals. You can give people the opportunity to network (this is ideal if you’re a B2B organization). You can give them a tangible gift or even a gift bag full of samples at the end of the night, and so on. 

If you can gather everyone in one place and give them all the same information at once, it’s going to save you a lot of time, and even though the event will cost you money to put on, it should also bring in money because people will get an inside view into your business and see why they should buy from you. 

Host A Virtual Event 

If you like the idea of hosting an event where you can talk to a lot of people at once, but you’re concerned it wouldn’t be ideal for you because your customers are global ones and not located in one geographical area, or you feel that you want to invite more people that you have space for, then you could take all the good ideas that come from hosting an event and host a virtual one instead. 

People are very used to communicating through video or conference technology these days, and if you organized an event over Zoom or through similar technology, it’s probably not something that would put too many people off (although that is something to consider, and if your target demographic definitely isn’t fond of virtual events, bypass this particular idea as it’s not going to give you the results you want). 

A virtual event takes up less time in someone’s busy schedule as there’s no traveling involved, and they can join in from the comfort of their own home, but it’s still a good idea to offer them something in return for attending and listening to what you have to say. One option is to send all attendees a discount code for your business, for example, ensuring they’ll not only attend the event, but they’ll also buy from you afterwards. Once they see the quality of the products and services they can get, they should return even without the code to reduce costs for them. 

Personalized Emails

Sending out a generic email is easy, it’s quick, and it’s a good way to remind people that you exist, whether it’s a newsletter or a quick email update about new products or sale items, for example. 

But when you think about it, these emails are the same thing every other business, probably including at least some of your competitors, is sending out. So why do it if it’s the same? Why not change things up instead? 

What if you could still send out simple, quick email updates, but you changed them so people engaged with them more and found them more positive? The best way to do that is to personalize them where you can. That doesn’t just mean adding someone’s name to the email (which is the minimum thing you can do), but it also means adding personalized recommendations, information, and even discounts. 

By using the data you’ve collected about your customers in the past, you can use specialist email programs that takes the information and creates the ideal sales letter or email from them. You’re much more likely to get a good response from the email you send out when it’s personalized rather than generic because people will feel you’re thinking about them specifically and you’ve got their best interests at heart. 

Put it to the test yourself. Next time a generic email comes through compared to a personalized one, think about which one you engaged with and which one makes you want to find out more.