Beyond CRM: How Clienteling Builds Personal Relationships At Scale
Clienteling was once the exclusive domain of luxury brands, where personal relationships and bespoke service set the standard. Today, technology is helping to shatter these barriers. With capabilities like AI, integrated data sources and instant communication tools as part of a broader strategy, brands of any size can bring high-touch, empathetic service to customer relationships.
Personalized, relationship-driven engagement is no longer a luxury—it's becoming a key strategy for brands aiming to build meaningful, long-term relationships with their customers.
What Clienteling Is
At its core, clienteling is a customer relationship technique where retail sales associates use data-driven insights to build lasting, one-on-one connections. Associates track each customer's preferences, past purchases and interests, capturing meaningful details and using them to deliver outreach and recommendations that feel tailored, relevant and timely.
Key elements include:
• Gathering Rich Customer Insights: This includes purchase history, preferences, special occasions and feedback.
• Personalized Communication: Messaging via SMS, messenger apps like WhatsApp or direct outreach—not just mass marketing blasts.
• Proactive Service: Reaching out at key moments, such as birthdays, season launches or new arrivals.
Rather than treating each visitor as a transaction, clienteling is about treating every customer as a valued client. But as brands connect the dots across online and offline channels, it's crucial to break down the silos between these experiences. After all, your customer doesn't see channels; they simply see your brand.
In McKinsey & Company's 'The State of Fashion 2025' study, they estimate that roughly 70% of retail sales are digitally influenced, yet over half of shoppers (54%) still prefer to buy in-store. Additionally, 75% of shoppers who receive high-quality, personalized service are likely to spend more. This data underscores how critical experience and personalization have become as drivers of sales success.
What Clienteling Is Not
• Not Just CRM: Traditional customer relationship management (CRM) tools focus on data storage and mass communications. Clienteling is about individualized, relationship-driven engagement, not volume-driven messaging.
• Not Just Marketing Automation: While automated campaigns can drive awareness, they lack the high-touch, responsive element that builds trust and loyalty.
• Not A 'Set It And Forget It' Approach: Effective clienteling requires both smart tools and empowered teams.
CRM tells you what your customers bought. Clienteling helps you understand why they buy and how to keep them coming back.
Personalization's Last Mile
In crowded markets, brands must offer more than discounts and generic automation. Personalization creates memorable moments that inspire loyalty, and clienteling helps close the gap between digital engagement and the in-store experience.
While marketing automation casts a wide net, it's clienteling—powered by AI and unified customer data—that delivers personal, one-on-one interactions, turning browsers into buyers and first-time shoppers into devoted brand fans.
Think of clienteling as the last mile of personalization. Marketing automation and data-driven campaigns may bring shoppers into your world, but it's the personal attention through clienteling that closes the sale and keeps them coming back.
Steps To Adopt Clienteling In Your Retail Strategy
Getting into clienteling doesn't require a massive overhaul or a months-long tech rollout. Start by considering how your brand operates, both online and offline. Does your sales team have access to up-to-date customer information, whether someone is shopping in-store or browsing on their phone? Are the tools designed to be intuitive and useful for front-line staff, not just created with corporate objectives in mind?
It pays to involve your sales associates early. They're the ones building these relationships. Train them, encourage idea-sharing and celebrate early wins so others see the impact. Don't wait for a 'perfect' rollout. Start small, learn quickly and let results drive broader adoption. Here are some practical steps:
By connecting online and offline touchpoints in the cloud, you create a more complete view of each customer. Breaking down data silos ensures your associates can quickly access past interactions, preferences and insights that help them build stronger relationships.
Include front-line staff in evaluating new tools, and focus on usability over complexity. Solutions should integrate seamlessly into everyday workflows and empower—not encumber—your staff.
Training and motivation are equally important. Educate associates on the principles of relationship-driven selling, and show them how to use the technology effectively. Offer incentives that recognize their efforts and encourage ownership of the customer experience.
Start small with a pilot, learn from early outcomes and expand gradually. Sharing stories of success can help create a culture of innovation and encourage other teams to adopt the same approach.
Clienteling For The New Era
Retailers face stiff headwinds—economic shifts, global uncertainty and demanding customers. But with strategic clienteling, brands can deliver personalized experiences, foster genuine connections and build lasting trust.
The most successful brands will be those that put relationships—not just products or promotions—at the center of the customer journey. When you elevate the human touch, your customers will notice.
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