Optimizing customer relations: the 5 essential steps to building loyalty

Your customers are the heart of your business. Without them, there's no sales, no growth, no business. 💔

Yet many companies neglect their customer relations and then wonder why their customers go to the competition.

In this ultra-complete guide, we reveal how to optimize customer relations in 5 concrete, actionable steps. You'll discover the methods that work, the essential tools, and how to measure your progress.

Ready to turn your customers into die-hard fans? Let's go! 🚀

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Why optimizing customer relations is crucial in 2025

The figures speak for themselves:

• 74% of customers consider customer service to be the primary loyalty factor (ahead of price or product!)
• 5x cheaper to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one
• +An average 15% increase in revenues for companies that excel in customer relations
• 89% of customers leave a brand after a bad experience

Customer relations are no longer a "nice to have", they're a major competitive advantage.

And the good news? With the right tools like Klark, optimizing your customer relations has never been so accessible.

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5 steps to optimizing customer relations

Step 1: Get to know your customers

You can't optimize a relationship if you don't know your customers.

What you need to know :

• Demographics: who they are (age, location, occupation)
• Buying behavior: what do they order? How often do they order?
• Interaction history: what have their past exchanges with you been?
• Friction points: where do they encounter problems?
• Contact preferences: email, chat, phone, social networks?

How do you collect this data?

• Well-configured CRM (Salesforce, Zendesk, Freshdesk, etc.)
• Post-purchase satisfaction questionnaires
• Analysis of support conversations
• Tracking behavior on your site/app

The mistake to avoid: Collecting data without using it. What's the point of having a full CRM if nobody uses it to personalize the experience?

At Klark, we automatically leverage your CRM data to personalize every customer interaction.

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Step 2: Be available and responsive (really)

Your customers want answers now. Not tomorrow, not 48 hours from now. They want them now.

Expectations in 2025:

• 90% of customers expect an immediate response
• 64% of customers are ready to switch brands after just one bad experience
• 24/7 availability has become the norm, not the exception

How do you get there?

• Intelligent automation: AI chatbots for simple questions
• Self-service: FAQ, help center, video tutorials
• Multi-channel: be present where your customers are (email, chat, telephone, social networks)
• Proactive notifications: let them know before they ask ("Your package is on its way!")

Klark tip: With our automated customer support, your customers get instant answers, even at 3 a.m., without blowing your costs.

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Step 3: Customize each interaction

Customers no longer want to be treated like numbers. They want to feel unique.

The difference between generic and customized :

❌ Generic: "Hello, how can I help you?"

✅ Personalized: "Hello Sophie! I see you ordered our new product X last week. How can I help you today?"

How to customize on a large scale?

• Use customer history: past purchases, preferences, previous interactions
• Segment your communications: new customers vs. loyal customers vs. VIPs
• Adapt the tone: formal for B2B, casual for B2C young people
• Intelligent recommendations: "You liked X, you'll love Y".
• Targeted offers: promotions based on purchasing behavior

The role of AI:Artificial intelligence enables personalization at the scale of thousands of customers without manual effort.

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Step 4: Solve problems quickly (and well)

A customer problem solved quickly = a loyal customer. A problem that drags on = a lost customer.

The golden rules :

• First contact resolution: aim for 70% minimum
• Fast response time: ideally within 1 hour for urgent cases
• Genuine empathy: "I understand your frustration" (and mean it)
• Proactive follow-up: call back to make sure the problem has been solved
• Compensation when necessary: commercial gesture to turn a bad experience into a good one

How to improve your processes :

• Identify recurring problems and correct them at source
• Train your agents to solve, not just respond
• Empower your agents (authority for commercial gestures)
• Use AI to suggest solutions to agents(Klark Copilot)

Measuring for progress :

• FCR (First Contact Resolution): % of problems solved on first contact
• Average resolution time
• CSAT post-resolution: post-resolution satisfaction

To find out more, read our guide to measuring customer satisfaction.

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Step 5: Create a company-wide customer culture

Customer relations are not just a matter for the customer service department. It's the business of the whole company.

How can we spread this culture?

• Top-down commitment: management must lead by example
• Customer KPIs for all: even dev or marketing have satisfaction-related objectives
• Share customer feedback: every month, share feedback (good and bad) with the whole team.
• Celebrate customer victories: highlight positive testimonials
• Continuous training: soft skills, empathy, problem solving

The benefits:

• Fewer silos between departments
• Customer-driven product decisions
• More consistent customer experience
• More committed and proud teams

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Essential tools for optimizing customer relations

1. A high-performance CRM

Your foundation: Salesforce, Zendesk, Freshdesk, HubSpot...

What to do:

• Centralize all customer data
• Track complete interaction history
• Enable collaboration between teams
• Integrate with your other tools

2. An AI automation solution (like Klark)

To manage volume without sacrificing quality:

• Chatbot AI: instant answers 24/7
• Copilot AI: real-time assistance for your agents
• Email automation: intelligent responses to emails
• Sentiment analysis: proactive detection of at-risk customers

Klark offers all this, integrated into your existing CRM in just a few hours.

3. Measurement and analysis tools

To manage your performance :

• CSAT/NPS/CES questionnaires: SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Qualtrics
• Analytics: Tableau, Looker, Metabase
• Voice of Customer: analysis of customer feedback

4. An up-to-date knowledge base

To enable self-service:

• Clear, well-structured help articles
• Video tutorials
• Dynamic FAQs
• Regular updates

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Mistakes that destroy customer relationships

❌ Mistake #1: Not keeping your promises

You promise delivery in 48 hours and it arrives in 5 days? That's the end of it. The customer won't come back.

Solution: Under-promise, over-deliver. It's better to promise 3 days and deliver in 2 than the other way around.

❌ Mistake #2: Repeating the customer

"Can you give me your order number again? And your email? And what happened again?"

Unbearable. Your CRM must contain all the information you need, instantly accessible.

❌ Mistake #3: Answering without solving

"Thank you for your message, we've taken your request into account." And then... silence.

An answer without a solution = worse than silence.

❌ Mistake #4: Ignoring negative feedback

An unhappy customer who tells you = an opportunity. Ignore him and he'll tell 10 people on the networks.

Solution: Respond quickly, show empathy, propose a concrete solution.

❌ Mistake #5: Thinking price is everything

"If we lower our prices, we'll keep our customers."

False. 74% of customers prioritize customer service over price. A satisfied customer pays more without any problem.

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Measure the optimization of your customer relations

Essential KPIs :

• CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score): immediate satisfaction
• NPS (Net Promoter Score): propensity to recommend
• CES (Customer Effort Score): ease of interaction
• Retention rate: % of customers who stay
• Churn rate: % of customers lost
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): total value of a customer
• First contact resolution rate (FCR)
• Average response time

To understand these indicators in detail, read our guide to the CSAT score.

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The impact of AI on customer relationship optimization

AI is not here to replace humans, but to liberate them.

What AI brings :

• Speed: instant responses, even at 3 a.m.
• Personalization at scale: every customer feels unique
• Proactivity: anticipating needs before the customer even asks for them
• Predictive analysis: identifying at-risk customers
• Freeing up agents: more time for complex cases and empathy

At Klark, we've seen our customers :

• Increase productivity by 50%.
• Process 43% of tickets automatically
• Improve their CSAT by 15 points
• Reduce costs by 30-40%.

To find out how, read our article on AI agents.

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Case study: how Click&Boat optimized its customer relations with Klark

Background: Click&Boat, a leading boat rental company, was facing a growing volume of customer requests.

Problems :

• Response times too long
• Agents overwhelmed by repetitive tasks
• Difficulty scaling up without massive recruitment

Solution: Deployment of Klark (chatbot + AI copilot)

Results after 10 months:

• 43% of tickets handled automatically by Klark
• +50% productivity for human agents
• Happier agents (less repetitive, more added value)
• More satisfied customers (faster, more accurate responses)

"Thanks to Klark, I've seen a 50% increase in my team's productivity. Immediately after its simplistic integration, Klark delivered value." - Jonathan Couverchel, VP Customer Care

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Conclusion: optimizing customer relations is a marathon, not a sprint

Optimizing customer relations is not a one-off project. It's an ongoing commitment that requires :

The 5 pillars :

1. Really know your customers (data + listening)
2. Be available and responsive 24/7
3. Personalize every interaction
4. Solving problems quickly and well
5. Create a company-wide customer culture

Essential tools :

• High-performance CRM
• Intelligent AI automation (Klark)
• Measurement tools (CSAT, NPS, analytics)
• Up-to-date knowledge base

The benefits:

• More loyal customers
• Positive word-of-mouth
• Increase in average basket
• Reducing churn
• Sustainable competitive advantage

Want to take your customer relations to the next level? Request a Klark demo and discover how we can transform your customer service in just a few hours.

Because at the end of the day, optimizing customer relations means investing in your company's sustainable growth. 🚀

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About Klark

Klark is a generative AI platform that helps customer service agents respond faster, more accurately, without changing their tools or habits. Deployable in minutes, Klark is already used by over 50 brands and 2,000 agents.