Are You Doing Enough to Keep Your Clients?

Whether you are still building your core business or scaling up to the next level, it is easy to fall into the trap of spending all your marketing time focusing on acquiring new clients. But retaining your existing clients is a cost-effective way to solidify and grow your business.

Finding a new client can cost up to 25 times as much as keeping an existing client. Meanwhile, existing clients are more willing to spend more for the services you provide and even try new services.

Develop a practice of communicating with your clients, exceeding their expectations, and following up with them in authentic ways to strengthen your client base and set yourself up for greater success.

Communication is Key

Whether you are working with a new client or a long-time client, communication is a critical part of a successful long-term relationship.

Communication starts when you are first determining the scope of the work. Sometimes clients don’t realize that their expectations are not the “norm” in business relationships. Asking questions can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and no nasty surprises emerge down the road.

Ask questions about the project and your client’s expectations. If you are working with a returning client, reiterate the expectations from the last project and ask if anything has changed — is there a new priority or a different approach they would like you to take? If you are working on a longer project, how often do they want to hear from you?

If you are working on a project and an issue arises, reach out to your client immediately. Delays in communication at this point can reflect poorly on you as the professional, as if you didn’t want to “deal” with the problem.

No matter where you are in the process, ensure that you are responding to clients (and potential clients) in a timely manner. If you take specific days off, indicate this on your contact page or in your email footer so clients are aware that they might be waiting longer than usual for a reply.

Communication also means being clear and open about the services you provide and the ones you don’t. Establishing boundaries from the beginning, and adhering to those boundaries throughout, helps avoid scope creep, which keeps you more focused on the core project. Staying focused will make your client happy as well.

Maintaining open lines of communication as well as actively engaging with clients and potential clients gives you more opportunities to demonstrate the skills, insights, and solutions that you can provide. Each of these opportunities is another way to make sure your clients always come back for more.

Instill Confidence by Exceeding Expectations

Your clients come to you for a variety of reasons, including your skills, your availability, and your affordability (among others). Approach each project with the idea of underpromising and overdelivering. For example, include a buffer for project timelines so that you can meet the due dates ahead of schedule. Consistently providing quality services in a timely manner will make your clients more likely to become repeat clients and tell others about your services.

One part of quality services is being honest with yourself and your clients about your limitations. Don’t agree to do something that you do not have the skills to complete at the highest levels of quality. Being honest upfront can save you from an unhappy client in the end who not only never returns to you but also lets others know about their dissatisfaction.

Maintaining your quality also means continuing to build your skillset, either by honing your current skills to higher levels or expanding your skills to include additional services. Look to your past projects to identify ways that you can offer more to your clients in the future.

Staying up to date in your field and understanding how any changes may impact your clients will also show you to be a professional that your clients need. The goal is to be in a position where you can solve your clients’ problems before they ever arise.

When delivering projects, remember that customer service is a must. Whether you are working in a brick-and-mortar business or carrying out the entire project virtually, always strive to provide the absolute best customer service.

Master the Art of Following Up

Following up with clients after you have completed their project requires both skill and finesse. Too many follow-ups and you might seem desperate for more work. If a follow-up is too generic, it will lack the personal touch that your clients appreciate. The goal is to find a balance.

One way to follow up with clients is to keep them up to date on your schedule, including openings and times you will not be available. Often a note that you might not be available in the coming weeks will spur a client to reach out to you with more work. After all, they don’t want to lose their standing with someone who is in such high demand!

When you notify clients about your schedule, ask them to do the same with project-related timelines, especially if working with multiple teams (meaning a delay in one part of the project can have a ripple effect on other parts). If you know of a project coming down the pipeline, you can plan your schedule around it, remaining as flexible as possible. You are also signaling to your client that meeting their needs is important to you.

Another way to follow up is to promote your client’s successes on social media. If a project you worked on is recognized by the field or wins an award, share that success on your own social media. Not only does it show potential clients the kind of projects you work on, but it also indicates that you contribute to high-quality projects.

Final Thoughts

Building a relationship with returning clients means they are more likely to pay a premium for your services because they are familiar with the process, comfortable with your approach, and know that their expectations are being met or even exceeded. A good rule of thumb is to spend equal amounts of time working to retain existing clients as you do looking for new ones. Focus your efforts on communicating at all stages, consistently exceeding clients’ expectations, and following up in authentic ways. Making the effort to build loyalty among your clients strengthens your client base and helps stave off the feast-or-famine cycle entrepreneurs might encounter.