4 Tricks To Keep Clients Interested
Every business relies on customers or clients to keep them going. Businesses that sell products might rely on volume or repeat customers to foster growth and measure success, but the service industry is a little different. In service-focused businesses, the goal is to achieve long-term relationships with clients. You want them to continue seeing the value in what you offer, even after your service is complete. That’s why knowing how to keep clients interested in your business is key to success.
Here are four different ways you can build relationships with clients and show them you care about their experience with your brand.
- Touch Base Regularly
Sometimes you might take for granted that people in your sales pipeline will stay there. The reality is that if you aren’t giving adequate attention to a lead or customer, they’re likely to go find someone who will. Having regular touch-base meetings to check in with your clients and see how they’re feeling and if their needs are met can help to resolve this problem.
These meetings can be scheduled as frequently or far apart as you see fit, but the client should have some say in how regularly they’ll see or hear from you. Depending on the services you’re providing, you might need to meet once a week, once a month or once a quarter. The important thing to remember is that these meetings exist so you can listen to your client, get meaningful feedback and ensure everything is running smoothly.
- Be Engaging
Think about how you’d feel if you employed someone because they were energized and excited during their sales pitch but then stopped paying attention to your needs after they were hired. You’d probably be pretty upset that you spent money on that partnership.
Don’t let your brand be that type of person. Instead, continue engaging clients even after they’ve decided to work with you. Have regular meetings, send emails and keep open lines of communication. You can suggest other services or show them the results of their current contract. The more you engage with your clients, the more likely they are to feel confident in their decision to work with you.
- Don’t Forget Your Existing Business
It’s tempting to always have your eyes on the horizon, focusing on what’s coming next or who’s in your pipeline. Gaining new clients is great for growth and exciting for business owners, but this fact doesn’t mean you can forget about your existing book of business. It’s cheaper to retain clients than to convert new ones, so you should have equal efforts in place to keep current customers happy.
One way to keep your clients satisfied is to continually assess their needs. Maybe you have a long-time client who’s used all of the services you offer. What are other things you could develop to help that client succeed? Are there common pain points among any of your clients? Discovering new ways to help old businesses can be an equally successful growth strategy.
- Include Clients in Your Process
Many businesses onboard new clients then are off to the races to complete tasks for them. The only problem is that the client isn’t involved in any of the ideation, development or design of the deliverables, which can not only create more revisions and negative feedback but also makes the client feel like they weren’t part of a major project for their brand.
Including clients in your process is an important part of forming a relationship with them and building their trust in you. You can walk them through the steps you use to create certain products or perform key services and get their feedback along the way. Ask them questions as the process moves along, and let them be the guide for how their brand would approach whatever task is at hand.
Keeping clients interested can be tough, but these four tricks will help you retain your book of business.
