Maintaining a good relationship with your clients is key if you want to keep business alive and open the doors for more business opportunities. However, with a growing to-do list, a full calendar, and other clients who need your attention, making time to nurture your current client relationships can be hard.
Not only is having a long-lasting client relationship important for your business overall, but it is also a much more economical investment. Acquiring a new client costs 5x more and the success rate of selling to a new customer is 5-20%. Happy retained clients will also have no problem bringing you more business. Hence, why it's so important to market and nurture your current customers. It can also be more effective than buying leads or reaching out to people who have not heard of you before.
Check out these 6 easy ways you can build a long-lasting relationship with your clients:
1. Communicate Constantly
Communication is key. Not only in your personal life but also professionally. Your clients need to know what's going on, especially if you're in the middle of a business transaction with them. For example, if you're a real estate agent and the property your client wants has several offers or if you're a mortgage loan officer and the loan your client applied for looks like it won't get approved you need to let them know.
Make sure to always reach out and keep them updated at least on a weekly basis. Let them know what is going on, their options, offer your suggestions, and talk about what is likely to happen next.
2. Be Honest
Things won't always be perfect and you have to tell your clients the truth if you want to build a strong long-lasting relationship. Sometimes deals fall through, applications get denied, credit scores are not good enough, or costs are higher than expected. Life happens and you need to be truthful and honest with your client every step of the way. It's better to say the truth rather than be caught in a lie later on and potentially ruin your career and reputation. Once you break that trust with your client it is very difficult to earn it back.
3. Have Empathy
Show your clients that you care about their needs and try to see things from their point of view. Understand what they want and help them as much as possible to achieve that. Take notes and make sure to have a system in place where you can log and keep track of them. That way, when they come back in a few months or years you remember exactly who they are and their experience with you. CRM programs like Salesforce are great to use because you can put all your customer's information in one place.
4. Simplify Their Lives
When you add value to someone's life they will typically remember you and recommend you to their family and friends. Although you are essentially providing a service, you can also act as a sort of guide by sharing your industry knowledge. Your clients will begin to see you as a valuable and trustworthy source of resource. They should be comfortable with asking you questions that relate to your expertise even when they are not actively in the middle of a transaction with you.
A good strategy you can use is send them emails with helpful facts and industry information so they can stay informed on a regular basis.
5. Reward Them For Their Loyalty
Let your repeat clients know you appreciate their loyalty or thank them for their referrals. Offer a special promotion, send them a small gift or hand written note, and anything else you can think of that will show your appreciation. Make sure to also thank your elite clients and not only reach out to them when you're trying to make a sale.
6. Keep In Touch
Once the transaction is over, you don't want to just end your relationship and never talk to that client again. It is crucial to keep that customer relationship going but how do you do that once there's no longer a sale in place? Try these 2 things:
- As mentioned before, CRM platforms like Salesforce allow you to input as much customer information as you want. Make sure to include their birthday or any special date within your CRM. Then, reach out to them on those dates with a phone call, email, or a personal note.
- Between those personal days you can also engage with them via email or social media by sending them engaging content. You can apply tips number 4 and 5 within this as well by sending them special promotions or industry information.