In continuation of my previous blog on ways to enhance cx, my second ideology is to show why keeping your customers informed is important.

In 2014, Home Depot was hacked—and 56 million credit cards were compromised. It was one of the largest data breaches to befall a major corporation. Then-CEO Frank Blake wanted to preserve Home Depot’s relationship with its customers, so he came up with a plan: Unlike other companies in this situation, who hid the breaches from their customers for months or even years, he was radically transparent about the problem with his customers. Check this podcast

For businesses, communicating with your customers is key to a healthy relationship. Sales promotion, feature announcements are good; whereas updating outages or security breaches isn’t. However, it is important for both types of communication.

Here are the reasons why it is a good thing to keep your customers informed.

“Customer First” attitude

With the advent of social media, consumers are accustomed to receiving information about virtually everything the instant they want it. Do your customers feel that they have been taken care?” One step toward turning that answer into a “yes” is to communicate with them.

Customers love promotions and offers. They may feel left out when they are updated only on websites and social media as not everyone has the time to visit those pages daily. Instead, share it directly to customers via email or text message. This reminds them that they come first and customer service is your priority.

Don’t expect them to find the information on their own

If you have something that your customers need to know then you can’t hope that they will find that information on their own, you need to tell them about it. For example, if your business closes on a holiday then you need to let your customers know that you will be closed. The last thing you want is for them to be trying to contact you and not be able to get hold. Otherwise, they are going to take their business elsewhere.

Be transparent

It is a hard thing to admit, especially to paying customers, when something isn’t working. But, it is the right thing and that is what Home Depot did it to save their business. Though there was a choice to ignore customers and hope they don’t notice it. But, customers these days notice everything. If they find that business has been hiding it from them, then you don’t get any grace period. They would have switched their loyalty.

By keeping your customers informed about a problem you are proactively showing them that you are aware of it. And, you are doing something about it. For most customers, this is enough to let them give you the benefit of the doubt and they will give you the time you need to fix the issue.

They always want to know how your business fares

Customers are like facebook friends. They like to know what goes on within your business and how you are doing. So, set up social media pages and update them regularly. Post company news, share coupon codes, update on promotional offers and blog. This will show customers that your business is active and it will make sure your customers don’t feel left out.

“Our communications have been focused first and foremost on our customers and what they want to know and need to know,” said Home Depot corporate communications director Stephen Holmes.

Customers want to feel special. By keeping customers informed, you make them feel valued. It shows your commitment. When done right, loyalty increases and business gets the reward it deserves.