Without a doubt, clients are the most important part of any business. Whether you’re redesigning your business’s website or storefront, the needs of the customers should always come first. If the opposite is true, then you’re well on your way to losing them.
Unless your company operates like an old-time travelling medicine show from a century ago, you can’t afford to lose clients. The whole reason customer service exists is to form a relationship with those we do business with and keep them coming back, regardless of as a response to what competitors are doing.
There are plenty of obvious ways that you’ve probably already considered that can cause your customers to get what they want elsewhere, but here are some less apparent things that can shrink your client base:
The Cold Shoulder
Even if your services are great and the cost is competitive, not responding when customers reach out to you makes them feel unheard. Obviously, you won’t be able to implement every piece of feedback you receive, but letting your clients know that yes, you are listening, and yes, you will consider their suggestion goes a long way toward keeping a client happy, even if their suggestions don’t get used.
Don’t Take the Job, and Don’t Tell Them Who Will
If your company has reached its maximum workload, it’s okay to turn down a job that will result in poor quality or rushed work. Being upfront about this with your clients will be something they appreciate in terms of honesty and setting an expectation that you’d be happy to help, if they’d be happy to wait.
But sometimes things need to be done yesterday, and being able to recommend a contemporary who could get the work done, while seeming like client retention suicide, will demonstrate that you really are concerned with your client’s needs, and once you’re available again, reaching out and letting them know could bring you a better understanding and more business.
Maintain Stubborn Practices
Business is a constantly changing world. You want to lay down expectations for your clients and yourself that will keep you sane and uncompromising on your ideals, but when the competition reacts to your success, you have to react right back. Whether it’s a change in cost, a more robust service plan, or maintaining a sense of importance and exclusivity, clients won’t stick around when the competition offers them more to switch.
Don’t Call Them, Expect Them to Call You
Sometimes we get so busy that finishing a job is like graduating a university class-- we passed the final and now it’s time to forget all of that information. But your clients are just as busy, if not busier than you sometimes, and even if they might have something that you would be perfect to handle, they’ll get bogged down trying to handle it in-house. Maintain regular, but not overbearing communication with your clients, and let them know that they can count on you to cut down on their unfinished business.
Clutter is Not the Calling Card of Genius
If you are creative or organizationally-challenged, listen up! If you’re conducting any kind of physical business, negotiation, or transactions with clients, there is an expectation that you have what they need, when they ask for it, and that it won’t be bent, folded, or have take-out stains on it. Keeping an organized, tidy office space for these dealings will give off the impression that you’re on top of everything and efficient, even if you had to scramble to get it done and filed while they were parking outside.
Come Back Swinging
Things will happen; mistakes will be made, and from time to time, you might lose a client for a preventable reason. If you lose a client, you can always rebound if you take the right approach. Consider what happened that caused them to leave. Even if the situation was volatile, reach out and try to get feedback. You might not be forgiven, but you can always improve from mistakes. Network with the clients you still have to see if they have more work or know somebody who needs help. And most of all, don’t doom yourself to repeating history. If you know what you did wrong, figure out how you can keep it from happening again, and stick to that plan.
Today’s guest blogger is Shane Russo, an online writer with a passion for business marketing and networking. You may also find more of his writing on the blog of SmartTollFreeNumber.com, which covers scalable business communications, mobility, and organization.
