The bread and butter of client retention

Companies spend significant amounts of money in luring clients to their business, but when it comes to the crunch far too many are leaving prematurely. In other words, their client retention strategy is simply non-existent.

As the title of today’s guide might have already suggested, we are now going to take a look at this topic in further detail. Suffice to say, once the initial business development basics have been ticked off and you have attracted clients to your business, keeping them is a different story.

We will now take a look at some hard rules that you should follow, to ensure that your “number of clients” figure is moving in just one direction.

Rule #1 – Look after them well

Some companies become so concerned about timesheets and other “formal” issues that they forget to ever look after their clients. Of course, the main aim should be to service them accordingly, whatever industry this might be based in.

However, at the same time, you should be looking after them. You should be looking towards client entertainment ideas to bring something different to the table. Not only will this sweeten them, but it’s excellent for relationship building which should also enhance the results which you are looking to achieve.

Rule #2 – Regular telephone updates

There’s nothing worse than a service company “working in the background”. If a client doesn’t know what you are working on, it brings questions such as are you really working on anything? Not only that, but they can question whether or not they need your business in the first place.

An easy way to navigate this issue is to arrange regular telephone updates. Most relationships will have monthly meetings, but if you throw in weekly telephone calls everyone will always be singing off the same page and this is crucial with the long-term goal of keeping clients.

Rule #3 – Remember, you are the expert

This next point isn’t here to massage your ego, but rather to reiterate the point that the client is hiring you or your company for your expertise in a field. In short, they don’t have it, and this is where you step in.

You’ve got to act decisive and show that you really are an authority in your chosen industry. If you give the impression that you are pushing decisions onto them, you risk them questioning whether or not you really are the expert that they are paying you to be.

Rule #4 – Still be open to their ideas

Following on from the previous point, we should highlight the importance of still being open to your client’s ideas. Shooting them down at any opportunity isn’t going do anything for those elusive relationships, whilst at the same time it can make you appear somewhat arrogant.

Ultimately, there is a fine line in being decisive, but also listening to your client’s point of view. They might not have all the answers, but they do know their company better than you and this naturally matters.

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