Setting up learning relationships with consumers is an integral part of customer relationship management. This entails finding out more about people’s needs, interests, and preferences, which enables a business to serve them better. It allows a company to customize its products and sales efforts to the characteristics of the target market. A chain of flower shops and garden stores can set up learning relationships by creating a large database and updating it with client information obtained during sales and when providing aftersales services.
The first thing that the flower shop/ garden store should do is create a customer database containing details such as name, phone number, email address, and physical address. Additionally, it should contain information on past purchases, which could be used to anticipate future needs. Over time, the business would update the database with new information, including behavioral data. The goal is to create an archive containing details that would enable the flower shop/ garden stores chain to customize its behavior to suit individual taste and specifications.
To update the database, the store owners and employees would need to collect information from the clientele, which can be obtained when making sales. When people come to the flower shop/ garden store to make purchases, salespeople should listen attentively to them. According to Itani et al. (2019), listening is critical to relationship management, and it enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty. For instance, during a sale, a person may reveal that they are growing a certain plant in their garden. The salesperson would then recommend weed and bug killers that work for the specific plant when the buyer makes another visit to the store. When salespeople listen effectively, they build more trusting relationships with clients.
Learning relationships may also be created when providing aftersales services. Examples of such services include delivery, surveys, request for review, and product training. Interacting with a customer after they have already made a purchase provides a business with the opportunity to learn more about the client (Khan et al., 2022). For instance, an employee from the flower shop/ garden store may request a shopper to provide a review of the product purchased. The buyer would indicate whether they were satisfied with the experience and how the store could serve them better. For example, different consumers could have different preferences for flower arrangements. The shop would then update this information into its database and use it to customize its service to each customer in future.
In conclusion, it is important for a business to set up learning relationships with its various buyers. Knowledge of a customer’s taste makes it possible for an enterprise to modify its products and services to suit these preferences. Consequently, this increases loyalty and retention as clients would be hesitant to leave such a place that treats them as individuals with unique tastes. Organizations that wish to succeed in relations management must prioritize creating learning relationships.
References
Itani, O. S., Goad, E. A., & Jaramillo, F. (2019). Building customer relationships while achieving sales performance results: Is listening the holy grail of sales?. Journal of Business Research, 102, 120-130.
Khan, R. U., Salamzadeh, Y., Iqbal, Q., & Yang, S. (2022). The impact of customer relationship management and company reputation on customer loyalty: The mediating role of customer satisfaction. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 21(1), 1-26.