Customer relationships are imperative in any business. They are of more significance to small businesses because of the way they operate. A large portion of their businesses thrives of repeat and referral clients, which is essentially a consequence of how well customer relationships are managed. To grow machine embroidery business, the importance of maintaining healthy relationships with your customers cannot be overstated.

An integral part of making customer relationships is making them trust you. If they don’t trust you, it’s unlikely that they will deal with you on long term basis. Moreover, it is almost impossible that they will refer you to their acquaintances with a lack of trust. So, relationships somehow boil down to customer trust and loyalty.

If you are just starting out, following pieces of advice are more important to you than already established embroidery businesses. The same applies to home based embroidery businesses that are looking to grow. Trust is actually a very delicate attribute.  Once it’s broken it’s very difficult if not impossible to reinstate it.

Quit Over-Promising:

machine embroidery business trust

It is really tempting for any business owner, especially the new ones, to promise things beyond their reach and creating unrealistic customer expectations. Most machine embroidery business owners fail to realize that growing a business is not only about gaining new customers. It is also about meeting the expectations you have set in the first place.

When you over promise, you are not only stressing your resources but are also increasing the odds for not meeting agreed results. If you fail to deliver on-time or embroider desired quality, it instantly breaks the customer trust. They might continue doing business with you but they don’t trust you anymore.

Make Them Understand The Process:

negotiating with customers about embroidery process

When a customer approaches you for an order, don’t merely rely on hill-top claims to make them trust you. Every machine embroidery business will have similar or even have better promises to make. This, therefore, never gets their attention and even if it does, it alone won’t last very long.

A better way to get them trust you is making them understand the process. Educate them on the different stages their order will go through. This way, instead of just making the hollow claims, you are actually enlightening your customers that how you will be realizing those claims. It induces customer trust in your service and they are happy doing business with you.

Another not-so-immediate benefit is that they start looking at you as partners. Trust is actually reciprocated. When you show some one that you trust them, it is natural for them to have same feelings for you. By making them familiar with your machine embroidery business, you are making your customers realize that you trust them.

Be Honest With Them If Something Goes Wrong:

honest with clients

Another indirect benefit of making your customers adept with your production process is that you can be honest with them if something goes wrong. It takes courage, to be honest with your customers but factors like these are what drive trust in you as a machine embroidery business owner.

Escaping the trouble with a small lie definitely seems like a more lucrative option. Lies don’t have wings and they will not take you very far. If a customer finds out that you lied to them, you are not only losing a client.  It will also dismantle your reputation as a business.

An option that takes more courage and character is letting them know what went wrong, apologize for it and measures you are taking to fix that mistake. Since you have already explained to them how their order is processed, it will be much easier to explain that what went wrong.

For instance, you outsource your embroidery digitizing work to a digitizing service. If the embroidery digitizers fail to deliver the files on time or deliver poor quality work, it is easier for you to clear the position of your business. On a side note, being honest is good but it is not always going to work. Try looking for trusted embroidery digitising partners and suppliers who can meet deadlines with exquisite quality if you really want customers who trust your business.

Don’t Make Them Feel Stupid:

You make every effort to make your customers like you or at least that is what you keep on telling yourself. It is not possible if you will think of your customers as stupid. I know that you are never going to say anything like that to your customers, but it is something that naturally reflects from your actions.

The fact of the matter is that nobody likes being assumed stupid. If your customer feels that you are making a fool of them, they are never going to trust you.

It is common for business owners to cover it up with a lousy justification and thinking of their customers as stupid. Nobody is stupid and your attitude is a big turn off for any customer for doing business with you.

Make Your Customers Feel Important:

making customers feel important

It is essential to make your customers realize that they are important for your embroidery business and you truly value their time, money and trust that they have bestowed upon you. Repeatedly saying this is pretty much futile. As they say, actions speak louder than words, let it transcend in your actions.

Value their time and efforts they have invested to reach you. This entails replying to their emails timely,  briefing them on order update and fulfilling your commitments to meet them. Even during these interactions, keep their preferences at the forefront and do listen to them very carefully. Make them realize that they matter to your business.

You can also make your customers feel important by adding elements of surprise and delight. When you deliver their orders, try to over-deliver sometimes. If that is not possible, surprise them with an occasional gift package along with the delivery.

 

Above mentioned tips might seem a bit over the top to some machine embroidery business owners, but they are as important as the brick and mortar of your business. These intangibles cannot be quantified, but they, alongside other factors, contribute towards building trust and better relationships with customers.

Final Tip: If you want your customers to trust you, you actually have to become trustable. If you want to be trusted, you better deserve it. Improve different aspects of your business. Work with people who you really trust because if they don’t meet their promise, it is you who suffer.

Embroidery digitizing is an important aspect of any machine embroidery business. Link-up with a trusted digitizing service who have the ability to deal quantity with quality. Seamlessly outsource your digitizing work and see your business growing.