Customer management: a definitive guide with 7 best practices to implement in your company

Knowing, capturing, prospecting, winning over and retaining customers is a complex task that needs to be managed carefully.

How does your business handle customer service? The success of any business plan is determined by this. Businesses that are unable to effectively and efficiently manage their clientele are bound to fail.

This is because customers are sources of revenue and, without them, no business can sustain itself.

With this in mind, we have created this guide to explain what customer management is and its importance for the sustainability of companies that work with the sale of products and services.

Continue reading to also check out these 7 best practice tips for implementing quality customer relationship management:

1. Clearly define your ideal customer profile
2. Know how to identify the right moment to “give up” on some leads
3. Avoid lead stagnation in the sales funnel
4. Don't forget to follow up
5. Pay attention to inactive customers
6. Don't neglect after-sales service
7. Invest in customer management software

What is customer management?

Businesses devoted nearly all of their attention to their products for many years. Relationship development with the public, how they view the brand, customer acquisition and retention tactics, etc., were not discussed in great detail.

However, as time went by, competition began to grow in a variety of markets . Offering quality products and services was no longer enough to guarantee the success of companies, as there were several similar options available on the market.

Today, in the second decade of the 21st century, in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution , it is no longer possible to ignore the fact that customers are the key to guaranteeing the sustainability of companies.

Increasingly independent and demanding, what today's customers are looking for are companies with which they can relate and that value them.

And it is in this context that customer management becomes a fundamental aspect. Companies have begun to recognize that the way they manage their customer base can be a major competitive differentiator .

But, after all, what is customer management?

We can define customer management as a set of strategies that aim to place the customer at the center of the business , understand their needs and expectations and offer not just “products” and “services”, but solutions .

The intention is to understand their behavior and specific characteristics in order to then build a solid, long-term relationship with customers.

Customer management organizes relevant data and information that will guide actions to attract, convert, retain and build customer loyalty.

7 best practices for customer relationship management

Now that you know what customer management is and the importance of worrying about this fundamental aspect, see below 7 tips for promoting quality customer service management.

1. Clearly define your ideal customer profile

What does your company consider to be an ideal customer profile?

Having a well-defined answer to this question is the first step towards promoting good customer management.

A company that does not know exactly what type of customer it wants to prospect and to whom it wants to sell its solutions will hardly be successful.

It is by defining the so-called buyer personas that your company will be able to define the best strategies to attract new business opportunities and generate genuine interest in the product or service offered.

This is because professionals in this area will not waste time trying to prospect clients with little potential to generate profit for the company or who simply do not fit the company's value proposition.

2. Know how to identify the right moment to “give up” on some leads

Even with a well-defined ideal customer profile, some leads may end up in the sales funnel and not actually represent a business opportunity.

Leads that do not advance in the funnel, that remain stuck in the same stage for too long, can be discarded .

Even while it may seem odd to "give up" on a potential customer, doing so enables marketing and sales teams to concentrate on contacts who are more likely to become customers and who are actually interested in the solution being given.

In this sense, it is important to know how to identify leads that do not “match” your products and services and discard them from the sales funnel.

This way, you avoid pushing a solution on a customer that doesn't suit them . This generates dissatisfaction and contributes to an increase in the churn rate (number of customers who abandon the company).

3. Avoid stagnation of leads in the sales funnel

For good customer management, it is necessary to nurture leads and prevent them from becoming stagnant at one stage of the funnel.

Learn to identify leads that are having difficulty moving forward and pay special attention to these contacts.

To implement this customer management tip, it is important that you are familiar with your sales cycle. Depending on the type of product or service your company sells, the sales cycle may be longer or shorter.

By having a clearer idea of ​​the duration of your cycle, you can know whether the lead in question is stagnant or simply within the expected timeframe for each stage.

4. Don't forget to follow up

To avoid the stagnation of leads that we mentioned in the previous tip, it is extremely important to keep your follow-up up to date.

Whether by email, telephone or in-person visits, follow-up is a practice that aims to continue the sales process.

It is through follow-up that the sales team seeks to bring the lead closer to the closing stage . In these contacts, the intention is to inform the future customer about the solution that the company wants to sell and clarify any doubts that they may have.

Therefore, keep your follow-ups up to date. With this client management tip, you can keep them interested in your proposal and speed up the closing of the deal.

5. Pay attention to inactive customers

Is it good for the company to attract new customers? Definitely yes.

Is retaining current customers important for generating recurring revenue? Without a shadow of a doubt, yes.

But what to do with inactive customers, those who have not necessarily abandoned the company but who are also no longer a source of revenue?

Good customer management cannot ignore the category of inactive customers. It is important to reach out to them and investigate the reasons that led them to stop buying your products and services.

By doing so, the company can gain valuable insights into how to improve its solutions. It can also help win back these customers and get them back to generating revenue.

6. Don't neglect after-sales service

It is quite common for companies to leave customers behind after a purchase is completed, completely underestimating the power of a good after-sales strategy.

In this customer service management tip, reach out to customers a few days after they complete a purchase to find out how their experience with your product or service is going.

This feedback is extremely valuable for your business . It is from the considerations made by your customers that you will be able to identify certain improvements that need to be made and also the strengths of your solution.

After-sales service is also a key moment to strengthen the relationship with the customer. By contacting the customer after the purchase, the company will be demonstrating that it cares about the customer's success and that it values ​​what they have to say.

In other words, after-sales service contributes greatly to customer satisfaction. And it is worth remembering that satisfied customers tend to buy again and bring new customers with them.

7. Invest in customer management software

Software specialized in customer database management can be very useful.

Technology has long been a great ally in customer service and relationship management. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are used to better organize relevant data and information about prospects, leads, and customers.

These software programs, specialized in promoting customer database management, allow a series of repetitive tasks to be automated and enable the customization of commercial strategies and approaches.