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Photo by Anna Shvets
When cultivating strong relationships with your clients as a small business, it’s the little details that truly matter and leave a lasting impression. While the big things are crucial, such as delivering on your promises, it’s the client experience that sets you apart. Those small, personalised touches you add can significantly enhance their experience with you. It’s not just about fulfilling the work promised; it’s about making them feel valued and showing them that you appreciate their business.
But what exactly does this mean, and what should you be thinking about doing to go that extra mile?
Respond Right Away
A prompt and courteous response to their inquiries will always be appreciated. If you are able to answer their call or communication right away, do so. If not, always let them know when you will respond. A quick email or automated response can work well so they know you are not ignoring them and will get back to them as soon as you are able.
A good way to avoid missing anything urgent, especially if you are officially off the clock, is to have messages routed to your personal numbers or accounts so you can check for anything urgent and respond in a timely fashion.
Provide FAQs
Having an FAQ section on your website that you can email to your clients should they have any further queries or issues can allow them to resolve any problems or find out more information. This can be especially important for new clients. When building partnerships, it’s not always feasible to tell them everything or expect them to remember everything you tell them. So, having a point of reference from which they get answers or check information can prevent them from needing to call you constantly. Of course, you should be there to answer questions, but supplying them with important information will go a long way to building a healthy relationship.
Send A Letter
Sending a letter is a lot more personal and personable than firing off an email. Taking the time to handwrite a note and express your thanks either on its own or alongside a gift can go a long way to fostering a healthy relationship where the client is front and center. Make sure to use good quality paper and even a custom envelope to help your snail mail stand out and give it that little extra touch. For the cost of some stationery, a stamp, and a bit of effort, you can improve customer relations and retention!
Celebrate Them
While your clients want to know you’re doing well and that they are partnering with the right company, it’s equally important to celebrate their achievements. Understand their goals and performance, stay updated on their business and sector, and make it your priority to celebrate their successes. This not only helps in client retention but also makes them feel valued. What better way to show your appreciation than by championing their achievements alongside your own?
Share Your Successes
There’s a fine line between celebrating and bragging, and you need to find it so you don’t overstep the mark and leave a sour taste in clients’ mouths.
Share information relevant to them about your small wins and success or how you helped other clients, customers, or partnerships you have made. Share some behind-the-scenes stories and anecdotes about how you overcame challenges to keep theme in the loop.
Share Roadmaps and Innovations
What you do for your clients now is important; you know this, but where you can take them, how you can grow and develop, and ensure they come along for the ride can give them a glimpse into what the future looks like for your partnership. You don’t want to be using this as a sales tool instead, be sharing important things as a way to pique interest in what is possible in the future and how you’re developing what you do to accommodate industry changes.
If you can pair this with advancements in technology in their sector to show how future collaborations can look and how you can help them solve a problem before they realise there might be one, it can work in your favour and help you keep everyone informed and happy and avoid them switching to competitors who can offer something you didn’t realise they needed.
Client satisfaction depends on your ability to understand what they need, how you need to deliver on your promises and being able to go that extra mile to meet them where they need to be and show you appreciate and value their business. Without this, you are at risk of losing out on your competitors who are delivering on this.
