5 Experiences to Cultivate with your Clients to keep them Coming Back

We all want clients to keep returning and using our products and services, but we don't always think about the things that make the difference between a loyal customer and a one off visit. In my opinion this should always be front of mind when making business decisions; not only because you want that one customer to return but because you should want to provide the best possible experience for all customers.

There are of course many marketing tricks that can help here but my focus is on building the right relationship with customers. So from this perspective how do you build customer loyalty. The key is to provide the right relationship experience with you and your business. Here are 5 experiences to cultivate a certain times in your relationships.

1. Make sure they feel you care when they believe there's a problem.

Many times a client can start to get the feeling there's an issue with the project you're building for them or the service they're buying from you. Even if there isn't a problem or you don't see it, you should not dismiss it. As soon as you get the feeling they have concerns be sure to address them directly; don't be shy talking about problems.

This is a good idea for two reasons. Firstly the client can see you're in tune with their thinking AND that you care about it. Secondly, clients can be more sensitive to the detail than you as it's a clear need for them and just business as usual for you. They may point you at a problem before you've noticed it. I've often seen business managers assuming there wasn't a problem only to find out later the client was right to be concerned.

2. Do your best so they don't think meetings with you are pointless.

When you meet with your clients, either in person or on regular calls, make sure there is a direction to it. Clarify the reason early on, make sure your client has the chance to get out of it what's important to them and follow up on any actions that come out of it.

It's OK, good in fact, to have a 15 minute meeting to see how they're getting along but it's not OK to regularly book an hour and talk about nothing. If there's nothing to talk about, don't waste their time or yours.

3. Show them they can trust you to deliver what you promised.

A basic and oft repeated but sadly under experienced part of customer relationships. Expectation management; if you say you're going to deliver it - do it. If you can't, don't say you can. If you find out you can't part way through don't try to hide it, address it as soon as you understand the problem and alternative solutions.

4. Help them see the future.

When working with customers, paint a picture not only of what you are doing with them now but also of what comes next. Ensuring clients see the potential of what could be done after the first stage is a great way to state early on that you and the client are on a journey together. It's important to not over exaggerate though as that will certainly come back to bite you later. You can focus on the "best case scenario" and be honest about the steps to get there but never push the "impossible to achieve" scenario.

5. It's good if they feel you are working to help them, personally.

Remember you are not dealing with this company or that organisation; you are dealing with individuals, with people. People have personal stakes in most things they are involved in. Your relationship and company could be important for their financial health (their bonus), they could be leading their first project and are looking to get promotion through it so need it to go well or it may have been forced on them, they don't want to deal with it and would rather be able to trust you to take up the slack.

These are not questions you ask in the first meetings as that's just a bit unprofessional, but you should get to know your contacts quickly. Understand how they are personally motivated and do what you can to help them. This gives you both a better quality relationship for the duration of the project and often a vocal advocate inside your clients business.

Thanks for reading, we're always looking for feedback so please leave your comments below!

Mark