Technology has opened whole new ways to communicate with customers. Social media is a great place to start and can help you communicate through posts, interactions and photos.
E-newsletters can help you communicate with all of your customers on timely issues. It is important the newsletter be relevant to THEIR business rather than being all about yours. Be sure to write strong articles and have a good proof-reader at hand. There are a number of services that can help with e-newsletters but the easiest we have found is Constant Contact.
NOTE: It is illegal to add people to your newsletter distribution without their consent. When starting a newsletter, be sure to give customers ways to subscribe in your email signature, on your website and in all communications.
Customer Surveys is another great way to get feedback from customers. Research shows surveys with less than 6 questions get completed the most. Be sure you think through what you want to know, and what you will do with that information once you have it. Survey Monkey is a great free tool to use to conduct customer surveys.