Is your company taking on a merger or acquisition? The opportunities of a merger are certainly great, but it’s important to pay attention to how it will affect your customer experience. Your customers are the source of your revenue, and if they don’t feel supported through your transition, they’ll do business with your competitors.
Hopefully, you’re working with a professional company like MergersandAcquisitions.net whether you’re buying or selling. It will make the process smooth, especially when it comes time to close the deal. However, a successful merger is more than just closing a good deal.
The most important signs of a successful merger are when you retain your existing customers, grow your customer base, and strengthen the teams within your company.
Without your customers, you won’t get the full value from your merger deal. To execute a fully successful merger, you need to maintain your customers throughout the entire process. This requires placing your focus on your customers and employees, since your employees are the ones who directly communicate with your customers.
Develop best practices for how your company will communicate
It’s critical to create consistency in how your employees interact with your customers during your merger. This is easy to achieve by creating a guide for best practices. In your guide, be sure to include the following:
- Talking points. You’ll probably have several important talking points that need to be communicated in a specific manner to your customers. For example, you might have some specific verbiage you’d like employees to use to answer certain questions about your merger and what it means for the future of your company.
- Example email responses. Provide your customer-facing employees with templates for their email responses to ensure they communicate according to your brand.
- Links and other resources. Your employees will need support through your merger, so make sure your guide includes as many resources as you think they’ll need.
- Legal information. While your merger is taking place, you and your employees will need to stick to certain legal requirements. What you can and cannot say will depend on your specific deal, so make sure to outline legal tips for discussing your merger with customers.
Communicate certainty around your merger
Your customers and employees want to know how the merger will affect them and why it’s taking place. Take the time to communicate the big picture to your staff so they feel more certain about where the company is going. When they feel confident about your merger, they’ll convey that confidence to customers.
Also, a consistent message will ensure all of your employees communicate the same information to your customers. This will, in turn, increase customer confidence in your business.
Address concerns held by your stakeholders
Your stakeholders will want to know what’s happening with the merger beyond simple stock phrases. They are going to have concerns and it’s important to address those concerns.
Sometimes changes that happen during a merger seem negative, and it’s your job to convey those changes in a positive manner. Sometimes that won’t be easy, but with empathy, you can get your stakeholders to see the big picture.
Keep employees and customers frequently updated
It’s important to regularly update your employees so they know what’s going on. If anything changes in the way they need to interact with customers, let them know. Also, be sure to express your appreciation for their continued support through the transition. A little bit of appreciation goes a long way.
Here’s how you can keep your customers updated:
- Post updates to your website. Let your customers know what’s going on by posting merger updates to your website.
- Send an email to your list. Update your email list about your merger. You probably won’t need to send many emails about your merger, but at least let people know what’s going on. You’ll have people on your list who don’t visit your website regularly.
- Engage with your customers on social media. People will be talking about your merger on social media. It’s critical for you to engage in these conversations. Get involved and respond quickly to feedback, concerns, and complaints to maintain a positive perception of your brand. When your customers see your positive interactions, they’ll be more likely to support your company through your merger and beyond.
Consistent, great customer service will support a smooth merger
Providing excellent customer service during a merger is the best way to retain customers and grow your business. Great customer service begins with educated employees.
Your employees will be the ones on the front lines handling breakdowns, concerns, and helping customers understand your company’s new direction. So, while it’s important to ensure everything goes well with your deal, don’t forget to prioritize your customers and also your team.
