Proper communication is the bedrock of all successful businesses. If you can nail how you talk to your customers, they’ll keep coming back to you time and time again.

Unfortunately, even though communication seems like the most basic of tasks, it is notoriously difficult to get right. Companies make all sorts of mistakes in how they address their audiences, leading to lost sales, complaints, and a poor reputation. 

In this post, we take a look at how to talk to customers so that they keep coming back. Here’s what you need to do:

Keep Your Tone The Same

When companies speak to customers with different tones of voice, it’s confusing. For instance, if a law firm talks to a customer in a jolly manner in one ad and then in a deadly serious way in the next, prospects can’t get a firm handle on what the company is about. Is it down-to-Earth and practical? Or is it upbeat and innovative? It’s hard to tell. 

This type of confusion can actually put customers off. They want to see consistency in firms’ personalities. They shouldn’t be changing all the time. 

Keep The Language Positive

In today’s difficult trading environment, it’s tempting to send customers negative messages, particularly when world events appear to be upending normality. But if you go down that track, it can cause communication problems and potentially put people off. Remember, people have different views on what is going on in the world.

The trick here is to keep the language positive, even if a customer is complaining. For example, if a customer says something like, “do you have any tape measures in stock?,” avoid replying with a straight “no.” Instead, say something like, “while we don’t have any in stock right now, we can pre-order for you so that you get your tape measure the moment that it arrives at our shop.”

Choose A Communication Channel They Prefer

Not all customers want you to communicate with them via email or banner ads. Some would prefer mass texting, particularly if you are the type of brand that needs to inform them of the latest news regularly. 

When you get the communication channel right, it opens a better dialogue with customers. They are much more likely to engage with you and want to come back for more. 

Keep It Brief, But Don’t Be Blunt

Keeping it brief while avoiding bluntness is a real challenge. You want to be respectful of your costumes’ time, but you don’t want to come across as rude or unfriendly. 

The trick here is to add a little excitement to your communications. If you give customers the impression that you’re enthusiastic about everything you’re doing, then it will change your tone of voice, allowing you to shorten your messages without them sounding harsh. 

Use Your Customers’ Names

Lastly, always communicate with customers using their name. Once you communicate with them on a personal level, it changes the psychology of the interaction completely. If you are communicating with customers digitally, marketing tools let you do this automatically.