Maintaining Client Relationships
Your business is most likely competing with dozens of others in the same area, offering similar products or services, at a similar rate. How is yours special? Your marketing materials may be fresh and attractive, and you may have a strong social media presence, but what truly brings life to your business? It is your clients. They give your business color and diversity. Clients want to work with someone that they can connect with. After you have worked so hard to build these relationships, how can you be sure to maintain them for years to come?
Maintaining Client Relationships
Once you develop a client relationship, you cannot let it fall away. Staying in touch and making sure that they are satisfied with all aspects of the service you provided them will show the client that you care about them. Each time you contact your client, you want to indirectly remind them of why they chose you and why they have remained with your company. Make any correspondence personal. This does not mean oversharing. It simply means avoiding language that sounds automated, stiff, and computer-generated. Find your own balance between professional and casual.
When contacting clients, even if it is only to check on the performance of your contract, let them know about new offerings. Just as you would like them to keep you updated, take the initiative to also update them. Stay informed about what your clients are up to. This may mean doing some research. If they are opening a new branch or have received an award, congratulate them. This may seem unnecessary or even unwanted, but it is better to reach out and make this touch than to neglect the relationship completely. Keep your business top of mind. Then when they are in need of a service, they will turn to you because you have been there all along. Taking an interest in the success of your clients may cost you time and effort, but goes a long way in strengthening that personal relationship.
Share your resources. If you have stumbled across a piece of information or a strategy that would be useful to your client, pass it on. These resources may be connections. Networking is probably important to your clients, and they would surely appreciate new, mutually beneficial connections. Facilitate the connection if you think that it is appropriate. If your clients know you want to help them, they will be more likely to ask for your input. Openness to ongoing collaboration will not go unnoticed. Just as they grow and your business grows, the relationship should grow along with it. Client relationships should never remain stagnant.