A common tenet in business is that the best customer is the one you already have. Most business marketing strategies focus on scouting, prospecting, and acquiring new clients. While prospecting for new clients is an essential part of your business growth, leveraging your existing network is just as important. These actions will do just as much to grow your brand awareness and increase your sales as prospecting.
Your clients are the life-blood of your business, and it’s crucial for you to maintain your relationship with them. After all, it’s far easier to upsell to an existing client than it is to find a new one. Below are 10 quick, easy, and effective strategies you can use to strengthen your client relationships.
Focus on Efficient Communication
Quality prevails over quantity. When communicating with clients, get to the point and fast. Your clients will significantly appreciate fast, effective communication and a lack of back-and-forth exchanges which benefit no one.
Speak to the Individual
Keep in mind who you are speaking to and tailor your message accordingly. Also, consider the best medium for communication. If your clients are responsive to text and email, connect online. On the other hand, if you’re looking to give tangible collateral, try direct mail followed with a phone call to ensure they received it.
Does your business have an image of being a ground-breaking, innovative lifestyle brand? Or maybe you are known for being a conservative, dependable B2B company. Use language that reflects your brand’s image when speaking to your clients.
Be Honest and Open
Trust is critical in relationships of all kinds, personal or business. Openly share your opinions regarding the best interests of the project. Your clients will come to see you as an expert they can trust, and not another short-sighted ‘yes man’ looking to close a deal.
Strive for Mutual Benefit
When your clients consistently see you aiming to benefit everyone involved in the project, their trust in your brand and business will increase. They’ll be far more at-ease working with you than someone new.
Give Value
When you can, freely offer valuable insight or a way to solve a particular pain-point for your client without always wanting something in return. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something related to your business.
Under Promise, Over Deliver
What you want to strive for is consistently going above and beyond the client’s expectations. If you can finish a project within two weeks, tell the client, you’ll finish in three. When you deliver quality work in two weeks, your clients will be delighted.
Stay Positive
Your clients want you to be the rock in the storm. You are the expert. To build and maintain trust in your client relationships, stay calm and positive when things don’t go as planned.
Following-up with your clients is crucial for maintaining the lines of communication. People get busy or may be unsure of how to proceed. If they’ve been silent but you follow-up with them, they’ll see you as a confident leader.
Use Your Marketing Team
Your marketing team is trained and highly qualified to craft and deliver messages that are relevant, engaging, and concise. Consider running your intended communications by them before reaching out to your clients.
If you tailor your message and medium to your client, deliver quality work, and take the reins in the relationship with honest and consistent communication, you’ll build and maintain a base of repeat, happy customers.
