customer service - The Learning Center

Building Relationships, One Name Tag at a Time

A name tag is so much more than a piece of plastic or metal with your name on it. It is the beginning of a relationship with those around you. You encourage others to interact with you when you wear a name tag. In some ways, your name tag becomes a symbol of your availability and helps you when building relationships with customers and others in business.

By making yourself available, you set yourself apart from those around you. This is why employers often encourage staff to wear badges to identify them to customers quickly. A name tag identifies those who can answer questions and serve clients’ needs. Most employers understand the need for building relationships and see that one of the best ways to do this is by wearing a name tag.

Most people know what a name tag is, but do you know how it can help in building relationships?

Name tags are an excellent way for customers to start conversations with employees and other retail staff. They tell the customer who they are working with from the moment they meet your employee. Identification provides an easy way for customers to distinguish your employees and other staff in your store from other customers. Then, when a customer has a question or requires assistance, they will know who to ask for help.

At some point, everyone experiences a moment when they cannot remember a person’s name. While it can be embarrassing, name tags are there to help. Your name tag makes it easier for people to approach you and start a conversation, especially in large and unfamiliar group settings. They provide a sense of professionalism and belonging in nearly every situation.

Communication is key to all business interactions; name tags help establish these connections.

Sometimes, especially in larger retail locations, it can be challenging to remember everyone’s name. By wearing name tags or other identification, newer employees and other team members in the company are more apt to recognize each other. Name badges also provide accountability for all of your employees. When wearing name tags, it requires that your employees accept responsibility, one, for their actions and, two, for the way they treat your customers.

Remembering and using a person’s name during conversation shows them that you value and respect the relationship you are building. Using others’ names helps create a more personalized and memorable interaction. After all, you are working on establishing rapport and building relationships that should last a lifetime. Name tags allow you to build a sense of trust and friendliness, and they help the people you do business with feel more comfortable and open to communication.

Name tags are about building relationships with your customers and business partners.

Building trust between a company and a consumer is essential to business. All companies, whether they are organizations or individuals, should continually work on creating a culture of mutual trust. A trusting culture helps make challenging conversations easier, teams more integrated and employees more engaged. It also helps keep consumers loyal to a company’s brand.

Making an effort to remember and use people’s names is a powerful tool for building relationships. By wearing name tags, you are encouraging connections as you do business. Name tags make networking easier when participating in social events, conferences and professional settings. When your business is actively building relationships with customers, it shows that you understand the importance of personal connections. Remembering and using names builds trust, something every business should turn into a habit.

How and why name tags make you successful in building relationships.

No matter your view on name tags, certain informational aspects answer these questions. We’ve all been influenced by the idea of a uniform; it keeps us connected with the employees of a business. Part of this uniform can sometimes be a name tag. Name tags help keep both the customer and the employee respectful toward each other.

Name tags are commonly worn at conferences, seminars, trade shows and workplace meetings to help people identify each other and facilitate networking. Name tags are also worn at social gatherings such as parties, weddings and other events. They are the perfect way to introduce people and create a friendlier atmosphere. Service organizations use name tags for volunteers and staff to help identify their roles and make it easier for members to approach them.

Engraved Name Tags

Engraved name tag using a classic or template design on Name Tag, Inc.

Several studies have shown that communication is easier when people know each other’s names. Building relationships with customers all starts with the simple process of letting them quickly understand who the employees are. Quickly connect with customers by having your staff wear name tags.

Name tags are the perfect solution for having quick identification. Even simple engraved name tags that show a person’s name and title have an impact. This helps build trust and respect in your business relations.

Logo Name Tags

Enhance your relationship with customers when you add your logo to name tags. Choose from several styles of engraved or printed logos. The crisp, vivid colors created by UV printing will highlight your logo and leave a lasting impression on your customers. They will truly showcase your business’ branding and company colors.

Your communication with employees and customers will improve when your staff wears name tags. And by adding your logo to name tags, you help with building relationships both internally and externally. So, grow your business by upgrading nearly any name tag by adding a high quality logo.

Premium Name Tags

Take your professionalism up a notch with these upgraded name tag choices. Make your badge as fancy as you want while maintaining professional appeal. Both colored and engraved logos will look amazing with these simple and elegant additions. Make your name tags really stand out by upgrading with frames and domes.

Celebrate your professionalism with a classy step up from the average name tag. Fancy only begins to describe our premium frames. Add a sparkle of gold, silver or black around a new name tag to let your team know how much they are appreciated. These frames guarantee to make your name tags look as professional as you feel.

Another way to upgrade and add even more flair to your name tags is by adding an epoxy dome. Seal in elegance and professionalism with a gorgeous raised 3D epoxy dome. Doming is the process of applying a thick layer of durable epoxy to the tag’s surface in order to protect it from dents and scratches. Not only does the epoxy help protect your name tags from scratches and dings, but it also provides the right attention to detail. The raised bubble look gives your employee name tags sophistication while making them last a long time.

Grow your brand, connect with new customers and work on building relationships with your new name tags.

SHOP CLASSIC TAGS

SHOP LOGO TAGS

11 Ways to Use Ribbons in Product Packaging

Ribbons can help you in so many ways. They help improve your brand image, holiday decorating and more. But most importantly, you can use ribbons to improve your business’ product packaging.

According to Mailchimp, “Product packaging is the process of designing and creating packaging for a product.”

Ribbons are so helpful in elevating your business’ product packaging. Use these tips to improve product packaging and customer satisfaction.

Wrap product packages neatly with ribbon rolls

Topping off products with ribbon rolls neatly tied around them is a great way to elevate your company’s packaging. Since ribbon rolls come in 100 yards each, you can package almost any product, regardless of shape or size.

Check out these examples:

Label products with badge ribbons

You can label multiple products with badge ribbons. They’re great when you have various items in a package that may not be clear on what they are, what its name is or who it belongs to. This is an excellent method of letting customers know the difference between products.

Personalize ribbons with your company name and logo

You can personalize ribbons to include both your company logo and name. This method of personalization helps with improving brand image when packaging products.

Here are some ribbon ideas:

Promote deals, events and more with custom top ribbons

When you use informational custom top ribbons, customers who have recently purchased from you can know about deals and events. They’re fantastic because they can be easily placed onto product packages.

Here are some examples for inspiration:

Follow a seasonal theme for product packaging

If you want to make your office or workplace more festive and seasonal, ribbons have you covered. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors so you can customize them to whichever holiday.

Look at these great examples:

A seasonal custom top ribbon on a product package for Christmas.

Ribbons on a product's package that lean into the Christmas, seasonal theme.

A ribbon roll tied around a plant to go along with a seasonal, Christmas theme.

Seasonal ribbons to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Share encouraging messages with ribbons

One of the great perks of ribbon rolls is including custom text. This allows your company to share cheerful messages. For example, you can uplift those who pass by with ribbons that say, “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work.”

Here are a few ideas you could try:

Thank customers with badge ribbons

Give thanks to your customers with badge ribbons that let them know your business appreciates their support and loyalty. Customers are a huge reason your business can continue to thrive because they purchase your products and services. You give them a product they will use and they give you their money. With badge ribbons, you can give them more than just the product they were expecting.

Check out these ribbon examples:

Share extra details with custom top ribbons

Informing customers of product details got even more clear. Your company can customize custom top ribbons to notify customers about more information they should know after purchasing your product. You could share product instructions or warnings. With custom top ribbons, they can be placed on your product’s package to make sure they see them first.

Simplify product packaging with ribbon rolls

Packaging your products is simpler when you use custom ribbon rolls. When you use a ribbon, customers can open their purchase with a simple tug of a ribbon end.

Add subtle accents with ribbons tied around product packaging

There are several textures to choose from when choosing a ribbon to package your products. Combine ribbons of different textures to highlight your company’s products, starting with it’s packaging.

Bundle similar items using a custom ribbon roll

If you have various items typically bought together, bundle them with custom ribbon rolls. This gets rid of the hassle of packaging each product by itself.

These are just a few tips to help you use ribbons in your business’ product packaging. Now you are informed about the many ways you can use them. Visit Personalized Ribbons to start customizing ribbons to work for your business.

Did you know there are other ways to use ribbons in your business? Learn more about how to use ribbons to elevate your business’ brand image, office decorations and more at our blog Ribbons Impressions.

You can also find us on social media to see the other ways you can use ribbons to work for you. And, learn even more about different product uses like name tags and signs on Personal Identification Uses.

Explore all of our ribbon options:

Ribbon Rolls

Badge Ribbons

Custom Top Ribbons

4 Tips to Engage Customers & Employees

When a business is able to hire and engage with the right people, they will be able to operate better. And, as we are nearing the holiday season, businesses are looking for necessary holiday help. Part of this includes quickly identifying employees so customers and clients will be able to locate who can help them. Simply provide each employee with a name tag to help them communicate with your customers.

Name tags create a personalized experience as they make it quick and easy for customers to quickly see employees. These tags play an important role in developing effective communication between employees and customers for several reasons. From helping with employee visibility to increasing business approachability, name tags are an essential tool for any business to have.

Using custom ribbon rolls, custom plaques and engraved signs in a retail business to inform and engage customers and employees.

Engage Seasonal Workers with Name Tags

For many businesses, seasonal help is necessary to handle holiday demands. Not only are seasonal employees cost effective, but they also help your business remain flexible in adjusting the size of your workforce. During peak holiday times, these temporary employees are often necessary to have around to help keep full time operational coverage. Without these crucial employees, you couldn’t keep your business running the way your customers and clients are used to.

Adding seasonal and temporary employees to your staff has huge benefits for your company. It makes it easier for full time staff to enjoy the holidays while they maintain work/life balance, and you can keep your business steady. You will also have enough people to cover any increase in hours or demand for products and services.

So, have you already started the process of hiring your seasonal employees? If not, now is the time. Of course, you will need to make sure you train them thoroughly before your holiday rush hits! With that being said, as a business owner, you should also be concerned with how well your new help will be able to work with your customers.

Tip #1: As always, name tags help to engage employees and customers.

When employees wear identification, they help to enhance the overall customer experience. This, in turn, will make customers feel more valued. When a customer knows an employee’s name, they can quickly establish a level of trust with them. Name tags humanize interactions and help customers feel more comfortable when shopping or doing business with your company.

Name tags also express a sense of professionalism and being organized. When employees wear name tags, it shows that the company takes customer interactions seriously and is committed to providing a higher level of service. Employee identification also holds them more accountable for their actions and behavior. Name tags encourage staff to provide excellent customer service and uphold your brand’s reputation.

Tip #2: Decorating is easy with custom ribbon rolls.

Custom ribbon rolls with holiday messages and themes are great for helping to decorate any business.

Be creative in your store or shop by using custom ribbons to promote sales and products. Ribbon rolls are eye catching and will help with displays and packaging. Use these ribbons in a variety of ways, such as wrapping around products, decorating packaging or creating displays. Their versatility allows you to showcase your business creatively.

When using custom ribbons for promotions and sales, make sure that you consider how the design works. Always provide messaging that aligns with your branding and the purpose of any sale. Remember to consider the placement of the ribbon rolls and make sure that they are easily noticeable to customers.

Decorating for Success: Business 101

The key to a successful retail business is product presentation. No matter what your company sells, whether it’s furniture or cookies, product packaging and store design play a key role in how well your business performs. Take some time right now to learn about an easy to use tool that will help you decorate for success: RIBBONS.

Tip #3: Custom signs engage your holiday helpers.

Using custom engraved signs helps communicate clearly with employees and customers.

Begin the season with the early fall holidays by keeping your store current with up to date signage. The signs can be customized or simple office signs. From holiday hours to indicating entrances and more, engraved signs are your customer’s best friends.

Offer special promotions or discounts that are tied to the early fall holidays. Then, use signs to communicate these sales so customers can take full advantage. Or show off products that are relevant to any holiday or season. Use your creativity to promote Back to School, Halloween, Thanksgiving and other holidays or special events.

PRO TIP: Extend your signage efforts to social media by customizing signs with a QR code, helping your customer base find your channels and interact with you. This will help create an online buzz and attract a wider audience.

Tip #4: Making award plaques work for you.

Create award plaques to help employees feel like they are making a difference.

Keep your holiday momentum going by awarding your staff and teams as they achieve their goals. You encourage improvement by consistently recognizing your staff and helping them set well defined goals. Custom award plaques help you provide meaningful rewards for a job well done. And by acknowledging your employees’ success, you influence your business’s success.

Custom Plaques & Employee Recognition

From promoting accomplishments to motivating employees, custom plaques are a unique and personal way to connect with coworkers and other colleagues. Motivating employees to stay on track while at work can often be problematic. Use these custom plaques to go beyond highlighting someone’s achievements and help them see just how useful they are to your company.

Engaging with Employees and Customers

By strategically incorporating these tips, you can create a memorable and engaging shopping experience for your customers during the holidays while keeping your business’s atmosphere current and exciting.

SHOP CUSTOM PRODUCTS NOW

Improving Your Customer Service

Helping your customers is what your business does, right? When you focus your priorities on your customers’ needs, you are actually doing your business a favor. As you meet your customer’s needs, you can better your business and better your customer service. In the long run, focusing on who is doing business with you will help you in your client retention as well as finding new customers.

Whether small or large, every business will always benefit from improved customer service practices. So how can you, as a business owner, help your employees and customers feel more valued? Here are several steps that you can take to improve your customer service.

Improve Your Customer Service by using name tags (relatability), name plates (approachability) and reusable badges (versatility).

Understand Your Customers’ Needs

According to several studies, service is vital in a customer’s brand loyalty choice. However, each customer will have a different view and opinion of excellent customer service. To provide this excellence, you need to determine your customers’ needs. Once you find out these needs, you can better train your employees to meet them.

Listen to (and Implement) Customer Feedback

You should also listen to customer feedback. Sometimes reading customer feedback is not the most exciting thing to do as a business owner. However, whether you are a small business or a large one, customer feedback should be a critical point in running your business.

Even if it’s negative, customer feedback will keep your business running up to par with what your customers expect. Part of being a business owner is listening to your customers. When you listen to your customer feedback, you can improve the customer’s experience. Once you improve this experience, your business can better help meet your customer’s needs.

Take all customer feedback constructively. Remember that most customers only provide negative feedback when something needs to be fixed. Therefore, even when dealing with positive feedback, find a constructive way to implement any changes that you need to your business.

Pay Attention to Your Competitors

Yes, even your competitors will influence your customer’s needs. For example, if consumers have a bad experience with a competitor, they may turn to you to meet their needs. So, you should always pay attention to your competitors to better help your customers.

While it is not prudent to stalk your competition, you will find it necessary to understand how your competitor runs its business. Then, you can identify possible shortcomings in their business and find ways to improve your business by building on what customers need.

Provide Open Communication

One of the best ways to improve your business’s customer service is by communicating openly with clients and customers. Find ways to communicate directly with customers about what services and products you offer and how they meet their needs.

Use every available means to communicate with your customers. Whether it is online and social media or in-store surveys, make sure you keep in contact with your customers. No matter how you communicate with your customers, make sure you use consistency in that communication.

Communicating with your customers is a crucial component of running a business. When you have an open line of communication, customers’ needs will become readily available to you. From the feedback received via surveys or messages sent through emails, customers will be happy to let you know what they need when your business is transparent.

Helping your customers remember your brand will also help you retain them. You help customers remember your brand and business by constantly providing them with your best business practices. This consistency is one of the best ways to accomplish customer retention.

Following Up with Your Customers

There are so many different ways that you can get in touch with your customers. From in-store surveys to social media postings, customer communication is easier than ever. Following up with your customers after completing a service or transaction is an excellent opportunity to understand their needs.

Once you understand these needs, you can follow up with your customer to ensure that they are satisfied with your business dealings. One of the easiest ways to reach out to your customers for a follow-up is an email. Make sure that when you send out emails to customers, you fully represent your brand. Your voice still needs to remain consistent so that your customers will keep coming back.

Promptly Handle Complaints

Part of listening to your customers is also taking their complaints. While taking complaints may not always be an easy part of doing business, it is vital that you allow your customers an opportunity to speak their minds. In addition, when you let customers complain about poor service or poor quality of product, you are also gaining their trust.

It is an important part of this step to follow up after receiving a complaint promptly. Remember, most customers do not complain unless there is an issue. And as a business owner, you want to make sure that there are no issues between you and your clientele.

No matter the kind of feedback you receive, you can always learn from what your customers tell you. So, always encourage customers to express and share their feelings about your company. Stay as transparent as you can during this process, and customers will continue doing business with you.

Meeting Your Customer’s Needs

One of the keys to excellent customer service is understanding and meeting customers’ needs. To make this happen, several steps must be followed. Keep the following in mind while dealing with your clients, and excellent customer service is sure to follow.

Offer Reasonable Solutions

Knowing your customers’ needs is only half the battle. The other half is to offer solutions to any problems that may occur. Find ways to explore how to improve your business continually. One of these ways is to listen to your customers’ needs and then respond with a way to fix any issue.

One key thing to remember is that the solutions need to be simple. Keep an open mind when responding to customer issues, stay as transparent as possible and actively keep your customer in the loop as you offer any solution.

Keep Listening to Your Customers

Just because you found one customer’s need does not mean that you found them all. Constantly keep listening to everything your customers say about how you run your business. Remember, your goal is excellent customer service. Without listening, this goal is unattainable.

And, don’t just listen but actually hear what your customers are saying. Take into consideration everything they say, no matter how unimportant it may seem. While sometimes it is hard to admit that a customer may be right, you may have a broken system (especially if more than one customer complains about the same thing). The only way to stay in business is to keep listening.

Be Honest and Transparent

It does not matter what type of business you run, honesty and transparency are two of the most important things you need to remember. Keeping your customers aware of how you are running your business will keep you in business.

Unhappy customers are not repeat customers. After all, a happy customer is your greatest asset as a business. Remember that a happy customer is also a buying customer. Whether it’s goods or services you offer as a company, your customer is there because of how you make them feel.

Honesty and transparency are just good business practices. Stay honest in your dealings, and your business will increase. Keep transparency as part of your brand, and you will continue to have excellent customer service.

How To Connect with Your Customers

The H2H experience should be available to all customers. What we mean by this is human to human connections. Connecting with customers should be the focus of every business. Over the past while, we have become disconnected.

As humans, we crave experiences that connect us with others. Those connections have turned online throughout the last year and have become a little less human. So, how do we revert to that constant human interaction we naturally crave while still existing in our ever-changing world?

Part of the solution to this issue is becoming more approachable. While you and your company may have already been in a position of trust, people need to feel that they can still trust you and your services. Now the question is, how do you gain that trust and become more approachable.

Tools for Improving Your Customer Service

NAME TAGS

With an extensive line of tags available, we have everything to meet your needs. Name tags are guaranteed to improve your customers’ experience and improve your customer service.

Communicate and relate better with your employees and customers easier with the help of name tags. While we are slightly biased, name tags are just a good business decision. They provide identification, security and so many other benefits.

There are significant benefits to wearing name tags in any retail establishment (grocery store, boutique, department store, etc.). Some of these benefits include the use of identification in marketing, providing security, identifying employees and other staff, and many other positive benefits.

REUSABLE BADGES

These versatile reusable name badges help your customers even when you have a high employee turnover. Your customer service will improve when everyone has identification. Reusable badges are perfect for volunteers, seasonal employees and even visitors.

And, with printable inserts, you can quickly provide identification for everyone at your company. Our reusable name badges are simple systems that can either be written on or printed and still look professional.

NAME PLATES

Be more approachable by using personalized name plates around your business. These name plates can include employee names, directions to find offices and other amenities, identify conference rooms and even provide an uplifting message for your customers.

NAME TAGS

Reusable name badges such as speedy badges, Mighty Badges and others.

REUSABLE BADGES

NAME PLATES

Customer Retention for Small Businesses

Customers; without them, your business is nothing. But don’t let that deter you from working on your customer retention. Whether you’re just starting a business or have been running a company for several years, you should understand that it is your customers who keep you in business.

Getting your service or product into the hands of the right customer can (and will) make all the difference. When running your business, you should always keep in mind that your most vital asset is your customer. And getting to know each customer will help your business grow.

Customer Retention for Small Businesses means always making your customers happy

Why is Customer Retention Important?

Retention: When someone becomes a customer, your company turns its focus to satisfy them so they want to return and also refer your company to their family and friends.

We’re not saying that finding new customers isn’t important. What we are saying is this: how do you plan on keeping those new customers around? So, in this regard, customer retention should be your primary focus.

Customer retention is the unsung hero of the successful business. Its flashier sister, customer acquisition, usually steals the spotlight, but retention is what ultimately builds the foundation of a company that is positioned for growth. After all, it’s much easier to fill a bucket than a sieve.

Keeping your customers happy should be your primary goal. And, by doing this, your customers will keep coming back. Not only do they keep coming back, but they will also start recommending your products and services to their family and friends. If you remember to always take care of your customers, they will be your most powerful resource. So, don’t just focus on getting new customers but also focus on retaining the customers you already have.

Building Customer Relationships

The key to any good relationship is communication. Keeping open lines between yourself, your employees and your customers is crucial to your success. Without this communication, those customer relationships that keep you in business will fall short of where you need them. And remember that without your customers, you will go nowhere.
You must meet the standards that the customer expects from you. This could mean products or services rendered. Make sure that everything your business does is for the customer. Not only will this help with the retention of current customers, but this can also bring in others that your clientele tells about your wonderful company.

Four Ways to Make Customer Retention Work

Because customers are the key to keeping your business running, you need to understand how to find and keep them around. Here are six proven ways to find and retain your customers.

Know Your Business

Sometimes the simplest thing is the answer. And this starts with knowing what your business is and why it is essential to your customers. Examples of this are clothing stores (people need clothes) or restaurants (people need to eat). While these may seem simple and not close to your business, they can start you on the right path.

No matter the product or service you offer, you started your company knowing that it would fill consumer needs. Don’t forget what these needs are. They will also help define who your clientele is. Once you know these things about your company, you can grow your customer base and focus on customer retention.

Now is also the time to reflect on your pricing and quality. Make sure that what you are offering, whether it is product or services, is of good value for the cost. Don’t overcharge or undersell your business. High-quality products mean a higher price, so make sure you value your business as it should be.

Visibility Is Key

From using social media platforms to creating an inviting storefront, you need to make sure that customers can find you. Social media is a great word-of-mouth system to get the ball rolling. Once you have customers purchasing or requesting your services, you can make bigger plans for getting seen.

custom signs for any business from name tag, inc.

PRO TIP: Use custom business signs around your office or store to display hours of operation. You can also customize these signs to help customers understand and know your policies and procedures. Choose colors that are complementary to your business so that everyone will see them.

Stay Happy

Building your customer relationships is what customer retention is all about. Help them to understand you so that you can understand them. If you do, they will be more likely to recommend your products or services to their family and friends.

But don’t forget about your employees. If the workers in your company are happy, your customers will start to reflect that. And happy people spend more money.

It’s All About the Buzz

custom top ribbons for business cards may help with customer retention

Think custom ribbons for fancy business cards that will attract new customers. Use professional desk wedges on office desks that show the retained customer how much you care. Even the little details like matching name tags for staff will show your customers how put-together and organized your business is. These details will help create a little buzz about your dependability that will grow over time.

At the end of the day, what really matters isn’t how much a customer pays you today, but what their entire lifetime value is.

Never use a one-size-fits-all approach in your marketing plans. Remember that customers want to buy from a business that treats them well. To do this, you need to listen to every customer. Treat them as the individual they are; don’t lump your customers into a bundle just because they are all interested in your product or service. By doing this, you guarantee that they will keep doing business with your company.

Retail Stores, Boutiques and More

In any retail establishment (grocery store, boutique, department store, etc.), wearing name tags helps to build a corporate identity and encourages employees and customers to interact with one another.

There are significant benefits to wearing name tags. Some of these benefits include the use of identification in marketing, providing security, identifying employees and other staff, as well as many other positive benefits. Here are some of our favorite reasons you need to utilize name badges in your retail business.

Unfortunately, we have all seen when a customer walks into a retail store and doesn’t get the attention they were looking for, so they leave. They were expecting something that the store offers but didn’t feel that they got the right help while looking for the product. So, now comes the hard part: how to make it so that your customers stay and make their purchase.

If we may be so bold, one way to guarantee a positive customer experience is name tags. These tools put customers and employees on a first name basis and ease the conversion of the sale. For example, when a customer is relaxed and comfortable, they are more likely to spend their money. And, when a customer feels like they know your employees (enter name tags), they are more relaxed.

The Benefits of Name Tags for Retail

From security to branding, retail establishments have almost become synonymous with name tag use. No matter your location or business, name tags are here to help. When a retail employee wears a name tag with a logo on it, the tag becomes a form of advertising. It can then reinforce the company’s brand in the minds of their customers.

Name tags have so much power, but you must first give it to them. Add logos, names and anything you feel that your retail establishment needs. From photo identification to reusable name badges for seasonal employees, everyone in your store should be wearing a name tag. And, here’s why!

Accountability

When working, it is vital that you hold your employees accountable for their actions. By providing them a name tag, not only will you help to maintain their accountability, but you also increase the professional status of your business. When someone wears identification, they tend to be more aware of their actions and how they affect others.

So, whether it’s handling customers or representing your company during an event, name tags will help keep your employees accountable for their actions. Name tags also increase productivity and keep your employees on task by providing them with a sense of responsibility.

Security

From using adhesive name badges to a badge holder on a lanyard, security is a must for all retail establishments. No matter your business knowing who is around you at all times provides better security. Name tags help with identifying people you come into contact with during a work day.

So, identify your employees better by using name tags to prove they belong where they are in your store. If your employees are accustomed to seeing their fellow colleagues with name tags, abnormalities are easily spotted. And, anyone that may be out of place would be immediately detected to help maintain the company’s security.

Openness and Conversations in Retail

For the majority of retailers, name tags are a necessity for business. And, because name tags are permission slips, they encourage engagement. This is due to their primary function being to personalize and humanize each person. Especially for a business whose focus is customer service and face-to-face interaction.

Starting conversations is much easier when people feel relaxed during their communication with your business. And, name tags invite encounters. By wearing a name tag, your employee automatically starts any necessary conversation without even knowing it.

What are some other benefits of wearing name tags that retailers can take advantage of?

How To Connect with Your Customers

Every great business person knows that the best way to keep their company around is to connect and engage with their customers. People buy from other people, they request services based on experiences and they look for companies that they can trust.

You learn a lot of information and how to connect with your customer by merely listening to them.

“I think it’s important for brands, especially brands [that] are really consumer-centric, to stay connected. Customers tell you so much from their behavior and how they shop with you.”
Jessica Alba, founder and CEO of The Honest Company

What is Relationship Marketing and How to Use it to Connect With Your Customers - Neil Patel

The first and most popular way to connect with customers is social media.

Using LinkedIn, Twitter and every platform in between, it seems that everyone is on social media. Even businesses have joined in on the social parties. Facebook groups, Snapchat filters and Instagram nametags are all ways to connect online with your customers. Each platform provides methods for both consumers and businesses to interact and grow together.

Social media outlets are where the masses are, so you, as a business, should be there too. Utilize this tool and take advantage of everything they have to offer. Try sharing fun and silly tidbits about your products. Or send individual messages quickly to your customers. No matter what, use everything provided by your chosen platforms to improve your connection with your customers.

BUT BE CAREFUL. Not all platforms are suitable for every business. It has been said that everyone is on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean your business will thrive by using it. Consider all of the pros and cons of using social media before setting up accounts everywhere. Remember that there isn’t an easy or direct formula to matching your business to the right social platform. That is something that you, as a business owner, will need to figure out.

Social media is a great tool to use when connecting with your customers, but only if you use it properly. Make sure to do your research and that you have time to spend on each chosen platform. Think before you post, and make sure you are listening to your audience. Tools such as social media only work when used properly.

Focus on the customer’s experience with your company.

We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon

Customers want to buy from a business that treats them well. So, don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach. Make sure you are listening to every customer. Treat them as the individual they are; don’t lump your customers into a bundle just because they are all interested in your product or service. They aren’t looking for a bundled experience; they are looking to be given an individualized experience.

You can make your customers happy by focusing on their experience with your company. Don’t put all of your focus on only the product or service they are buying. Connecting with your customers on an emotional and personal level is important. If you do, they will be more likely to recommend your products or services to their family and friends.

It is crucial to make an effort to connect with each customer.

Get to know your customers on a personal level. And, make your service or product as relevant to them as possible. Everyone likes to feel as if they are important enough to remember. So, make them feel that way with as much personalization as you can. Use a customer’s name during their shopping experience. Remember little details and tidbits they have shared during prior visits. This way, you can make an effort to connect each time they come back.

“It’s not enough to know just the demographics of your customers. Age and location data doesn’t tell you what you really need to know. Instead, you need to know your customers on a personal level so that you know what they want, why they buy, and why they don’t buy. Otherwise, you have only a superficial understanding of your customers.”
By Neil Patel, “7 Brilliant Ways to Connect with Your Customers on a Personal Level”

Show your connection with your customers through appreciation.

We understand that connecting on a personal level with your customers can be difficult, but it is also necessary to stay in business. You need to humanize every experience that your customer has with your business. In other words, be relatable. And be grateful. Showing your customers that you care they are buying from you will keep them coming back. The message is in the details, or something like that.

connect with your customers through handwritten notes

Sending handwritten notes, making a phone call or sending a private email are all great ways to connect with your customer. But, put some thought into your actions before performing them. After a purchase or rendering of service, thank your customer by sending them a thought out, well-worded letter. Don’t rush these notes as they will mean a great deal to every recipient. And, they could mean continued business for you.

This also works for phone calls and emails. Make sure you think about what you want to say before hitting that send or dial button. Proofread everything you write before you send it. And, most importantly, make sure you personalize it. Don’t get in the habit of sending out so many of these messages or phone calls that they become autonomous. Always remember that you are addressing an individual, and they should be treated as such.

Provide unmatched customer service to keep them coming back.

Let’s try an experiment. Find the customer service number from any of your favorite companies and call them. What happened? Let’s assume you got through to someone, eventually, but you were still treated as a number in a cue. Or worse, you got stuck at a call center with someone reading from a script that didn’t answer your question. How did that make you feel? We know that no one wants that experience.

Take us for a better example. Here at Coller Industries, when you call or choose our online chat feature, you will always be connected to a live person, and quickly. Every one of our customer service representatives has been trained to treat you as an individual. And, you will feel that way, guaranteed! Your order is processed like it’s the only one, and it’s handled with care and accuracy. We wish you had this kind of experience everywhere else. But, at least you know that with us, you’ll always get what you want and be treated with respect.

One of the most powerful tools any company has is how they treat their customers during the business process. Providing the best possible customer service experience should be your number one priority. From responding quickly to customer requests to making sure you have a live person on the other end of the phone line, good customer service is how you retain your clientele.

How will you implement these standards into how you treat your customers?

Here’s some advice, go that extra mile. By making sure that your customer service team responds to your customers personally, you solidify your business connections. Acknowledging questions and concerns from your customers will reestablish the trust you have already built. It will also help strengthen the relationship and connection with your customers and anyone they know. This, in turn, will bring in more clientele and business. So, the bottom line should always be to leave the customer grateful and satisfied.

Don’t underestimate the power of your customers.

Make sure you are asking your customers questions and continually searching for feedback. Finding out after a transaction happens that something went wrong doesn’t help anyone, especially your customer. Connect with them by asking for feedback before, during and after all transactions. But don’t become a burden. There are people who feel that businesses can be too personal and are afraid of what you might do with their information. So, make sure that when you ask questions, you are also being considerate.

Now that you have answers and feedback, make sure you are responding appropriately. If you receive positive reviews, give positive affirmation back. Tell your customers how happy you are that they are happy. Give your customers thanks for being there for your business. If you get a negative review, take it seriously. Respond politely and work with your customers to correct things.

“77% of consumers will read an online review before purchasing. Now consider the flip side. In most cases, negative reviews are the fastest way to derail a new purchase. A Zendesk study showed that 90% of positive reviews impact purchases and 86% of negative ones do also. Another study showed that even a single negative review has the power to destroy 70% of purchases.”
By Neil Patel, “7 Brilliant Ways to Connect with Your Customers on a Personal Level”

No matter the type of review you get, making sure that you respond is vital. Building trust establishes your personal connections with your customers. And, these connections are the only way to stay in business. Customer retention and development rely heavily on these reviews. So, make sure to keep on top of them. And if you can’t, delegate someone who can.

What is your preferred way to connect with customers?

With so many ways to connect with customers, your success depends on the method you choose. Before making any final decisions of where you are more likely to connect with your customer, do your research. Don’t join Facebook just because everyone else has. Determine how your customers want to communicate, and then put those methods into action. Build that trust, and the connections will flow naturally.