You know that client retention is every bit as important as acquiring new clients. Your 'attitude' of service becomes a 'commitment' to service when you put it into action. In this two-part series, Bill Cates offers suggestions for creating and following a systematic approach to serving your clients.
Almost every business has a repurchase cycle. Most people buy a new car within three to five years, a new copier every two to three years, a new computer every two to three years, and so on. Cycles vary depending on the exact nature of the financial work you do. It’s important for you to determine the amount of client-contact needed for your clients and then create a systematic approach to maintaining this level of contact to keep your clients happy with the work you’ve done for them so far, and to look for new opportunities to work for them. The key word is 'systematic.'
YOUR INTEGRITY WILL BE TESTED
In business, integrity means doing what you say you’ll do and never violating your own standards of behavior.
Every time you tell a prospect or client that you’ll do something, you’d better do it — in a timely fashion. This is how you build trust. Let prospects and clients know from the very beginning that your word means something. Show them that they can count on you to do what you say you will. This isn’t always an easy standard to uphold. Often we agree to something without thinking it all the way through, only to realize later that we misjudged our ability to deliver on our promise. Be thoughtful about the commitments you make. Keeping promises is essential to maintaining your integrity, building trust — and earning referrals.
The second aspect of integrity has to do with your word to yourself. A person with integrity never engages in behavior that goes against their own standards. The vast majority of your clients will respect and trust you when they see that you have high standards for yourself and your business, even when this means not giving them exactly what they want every now and then.
Don’t get me wrong; you need to be infinitely flexible in how you serve your clients. No service policy should be written in stone. But you should never violate your personal standards. True, you might lose a client who asks you to do business in a way that violates these standards. But compromising on what you hold important doesn’t allow for a win/win relationship.
Integrity is your foundation for creating trust with your clients, not to mention everyone else in your life. When people talk about you behind your back, you want them to say, 'I can count on her,' or 'He’s a man of his word.'
TELL THE TRUTH
Never lie to a client. Keeping track of the truth is hard enough. With this said, when to tell the truth in certain circumstances is something of an art form. Situations might arise in which the client doesn’t need to know every detail all at once. When all is said and done, tell the truth to your clients.
THANK YOUR CLIENTS OFTEN
Almost every businessperson I meet knows the value of sending a thank-you note after making a sale or performing a service. Yet most businesspeople aren’t in the habit of doing this. This gesture alone will help you to stand out in a crowded marketplace. How many thank-you notes did you send out last year? Send out twice as many this year.
SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION
We’ve covered client-appreciation events in past articles, and will again in the future. If you aren’t hosting client-appreciation events you’re missing out on a powerful client-retention and referral-gathering strategy.
CREATE SUPERIOR INTERNAL CLIENT SERVICE
If you have staff, make sure they’re well trained and have an A+ attitude toward service. This attitude is almost impossible to teach. Hire the attitude and train the rest.
Also, treat your staff like royalty — as you treat your clients. It’s far easier to create loyal external clients if you care for and support the organization’s internal clients. Research shows that the way an organization treats its internal clients is ultimately the way it treats external clients. And employee loyalty also has a huge impact on client loyalty.
NEVER TELL A CLIENT THEY’RE WRONG
We all know the client isn’t always right. But we have to be very careful how we let them know this. I once took some negatives to a photo lab to be turned into prints. I took in about 20 different negatives, so the order was a little complicated. I read off the numbers I wanted printed to the store clerk and she recorded them. When she read the order back to me, it wasn’t what I had wanted. She immediately told me, in an accusatory tone, that I had given her the wrong numbers. Of course, I became mildly angry.
The truth of the matter is that I might’ve made a mistake. We’ll never know for sure. But when she accused me of the error, she damaged her and the lab’s relationship with me. I might go back to that lab in spite of her, but certainly not because of her.
Be very careful how you let clients know they’ve made a mistake. Take as much on yourself as possible first. And when you do have to tell them, do it in a teaching manner — not arrogantly or patronizingly — but with genuine care and concern.
CALL CLIENTS WITH STATUS REPORTS
When you’re servicing your clients and it takes you more than a few days to accomplish your task, let your clients know the status of the situation. E-mail provides a very efficient way to do this.
TEACHING POINT
There’s more to creating client loyalty and referrals than wanting to provide great service. You need to constantly reflect on how your actions are actually conveying your attitude of service. We tend to judge ourselves by our intentions. Our clients judge us purely by our actions.