Anyone in business knows getting new clients costs more and takes more time than maintaining current ones. Happy, current clients also represent a tremendous opportunity for referrals and testimonials. Reducing costs by keeping clients longer and gaining new business through their referrals bolsters company growth. Since client retention is so vital, what efforts is your company making to keep the valuable clients you have?
Clients Avoid Confrontation
Unsatisfied customers or clients often move to a competitor without communicating to their current vendor or service provider about their dissatisfaction. It’s human nature to avoid confrontation, so someone may keep quiet about any problems they are experiencing with a company. A client may allow a company to complete a planned project, even if they are not completely satisfied with the communication, fees, delays, work quality, or anything else. They may never tell a company they feel unhappy but do look elsewhere for the next project.
Your company can lose more than future projects from the unsatisfied client. Although they won’t tell you they weren’t completely happy, they will probably tell colleagues, neighbors, family members, and friends about the problems. You won’t get referrals, and your company’s reputation and brand will have taken a damaging hit, and you may never know why.
Communication and Relationship Building
The antidote to this unfortunate but too common scenario is regular, planned communication combined with relationship and loyalty building. Every company needs a client retention plan. It should include a schedule for everyday communication and demonstrations of appreciation before, during, and after a project.
Checking in regularly to get feedback at every stage of a client’s journey can ensure a successfully completed project and boost your brand. Use a combination of personal messages and automated reach-outs. Be friendly and engaging, and make sure all team members do the same. Strive to build a human connection and keep the client involved in the decision-making and process. Building a relationship can encourage a second and third project and often provide referral clients.
Clear Expectations
Customer retention starts with the initial presentation. Use case studies and clear communication to establish realistic expectations. Ask questions and listen to the client’s goals. If you misunderstand what a client wants, you will frustrate everyone. If a client misunderstands what you will deliver from the beginning, dissatisfaction is inevitable. Conversely, over-delivering on expectations establishes loyalty, so set and evaluate expectations often.
Lay out a road map for communication throughout the planning and implementation process. Plan meetings or phone calls at different stages to check in, update everyone on progress, and ask some leading questions. While a client may avoid confrontation, a team member who asks for feedback gives someone permission to complain.
When the complaint is expressed, it can be solved. Whether the complaint is about the dirt tracked into the house or the wrong color being painted on a wall, knowing sooner can save the situation. An answered or resolved concern builds a stronger bond between the company and the client. Think of a problem as an opportunity to strengthen bonds. Include every team member in the communication plan because a client needs a positive relationship with the entire team.
After Project Completion
The client’s journey with your company should continue after the project is completed. Whether they have future projects for you or not, you want them to become advocates for your organization. Continuing to touch base with them and letting them know how much you value them as clients can be extremely valuable and easy if you have a set plan.
Continuing your relationship with a client after a project is done can include keeping them on an email list, especially if emails include educational bits and information about community events the company sponsors. You might send calendars or holiday cards to all previous clients. You may ask to feature their completed project in your newsletter or on the website. Even if they decline, you have had an additional touch, and they may feel flattered.
Loyalty Programs
A good system for keeping in touch with clients and learning more about them is a loyalty program. You might call it VIP Club or something else, but make sure the people you have done work for know your company considers them special. Loyalty programs give companies a great opportunity to build brand recognition, and through various data collection techniques like program registration forms, companies gather inciteful marketing statistics.
To reinforce a relationship with a client, use the loyalty club to give them preferential treatment with discounts and perks. Depending on your industry, it might be free annual inspections or upgrades, discounted service prices, free design consultations, advanced notice of special offers, or invitations to special events like design shows, open houses, or company-sponsored charity events.
Diversify and Expand Services
Companies sometimes add or expand their services to continue getting business from previous clients. By listening to clients and paying attention to what services are difficult to find in your market, you might find ways to expand profitably. Being flexible about the work offered can provide opportunities for additional business and diversification. For example, a construction company might decide to add deck building or hardscaping to their services if customers consistently ask about them. An architecture firm might add an interior design department or add a landscape designer to their staff. Partnering with other reliable service companies is another way to diversify.
Overcoming Media Overload
Building and maintaining client loyalty is more difficult today because of the dramatic increase in information launched at each of us every day. The sheer volume of marketing messages, valid and invalid news, and opinions an individual experiences every waking hour, makes gaining company loyalty more challenging. A Forbes article states, “ Stimulated by sensationalism, social media trends and a generational force that is changing how brands earn loyalty and trust, consumers have become more critical and cynical.”
Establishing loyalty to your company can help clients ignore your competitors. When they feel valued by your organization, they are less likely to be enticed into trying another firm, so an effective client or customer retention program should be a priority. With a smart plan and frequent evaluations, companies can continue to get repeat and referral business.