No business exists without clients. There is no successful business without raving clients who not only come back over and over but also spread their delight about the business and thus bring more clients by word-of-mouth.
I think that the only way you can turn your clients into raving fans is by building and nurturing strong relationships with them. For this reason, in this week’s article, I’m sharing seven secrets on how to do it.
1. Take the time to know your clients well
Understanding your clients and speaking their language are the first steps to building strong relationships. When you know their dreams, needs, wants, and challenges, you’ll be able to match your solutions to them. That’s the only way your clients will buy from you.
How do you get to know them, you ask? By being present and visible in places where they hang out. By listening and reading to what they say and engaging in the conversation. And in case you think you’re not visible enough to your ideal clients, then download the Guide with 49+ Ways to Gain Visibility here.
Once you do that, don’t stop there; try going deeper. Build a relationship that’s not just all business. Knowing what your clients love, what they are passionate about as people will create even a more personal relationship and maybe also turn it into friendship. It’ll create many benefits on many levels for you and them. Why? Because by taking interest in your clients as whole human beings, you make them feel important and show that you care.
2. Deliver the best value for their money
Your clients won’t buy from you if they think they won’t get more value out of your products or service than the money they spent purchasing them. With this in mind, deliver them excellence in quality and experience every time. Raising the value of your offering continually should be on top of your mind and a key strategy for business growth. How can you do that, you ask? Get creative. Do market research. Observe other businesses not only in your industry. Innovation and new ideas can come from many places, even the ones you would never have expected.
3. Communicate often and excellently
It’s important to realize that communication with your client has many sources. Your more formal ways can be your order intake forms, invoices, newsletters, or marketing content you put out there. At the same time, you also have informal methods that are amazing in strengthening the relationship you build. Sending your client a text, PM, calling, to check on how they are doing goes a long way. Additionally, if and when you can take them out for lunch or to an event with no hidden agenda for selling will allow you through fun to create a strong emotional bond for a long time.
4. Constantly find ways to serve them
If you always find ways to serve your clients and couple it with secret 2, you’ll turn them into your raving fans. There are many ways you can do that outside of delivering your outstanding offering. You can share your expert knowledge to help them with a struggle. You can acknowledge them in your promotional materials or help them promote their business. You can also support a charity close to them. Moreover, you could reciprocate and refer their business to your network, not to mention becoming their client if possible.
5. Own your mistakes
No one is perfect. No matter how excellent your offering is or how much you try to avoid issues, mistakes will happen. And that’s OK. When you have a strong relationship with your clients, you can own your mistakes and do your best to correct them. Don’t forget that they’re people too. Most don’t expect perfection, and when you have their trust, they’ll understand that things can go sideways. What they’ll appreciate is you owning up to the mistakes and communicating excellently and frequently while you’re working hard solving the issues.
6. Value their opinion
One of the best ways to improve your offering is by asking for feedback from your clients. Whether they are raving fans or those who went through challenges with your business, they’ll give you fantastic ideas to get better, Ideas that you probably didn’t think about. After all, they are on the receiving end of your offering. That’s why their perspective is invaluable. And when you ask, you’ll also show them that their opinion matters, that they matter.
7. Be yourself
Last but not least, never forget to be yourself. There are many many tips in the above secrets. I’ve given them to you to spark ideas and make you think rather than telling you to adopt them all and potentially get overwhelmed. Whatever you chose to implement or change in your business, ensure that it aligns with your vision, mission, values, and you. Because you are unique, your business is unique and those are fundamental reasons why your clients buy from you. So, whatever you do, don’t lose sight of this paradigm. You can improve and get better, innovate, and change, but the core brand – YOU – need to shine through all these choices.
To conclude: equipped now with all these ideas, enjoy the process! If you’re not sure which ones would work best for your business, then don’t hesitate to ask for help through a free strategy session with me. In just 30 mins, I’ll help you get started! Click here to schedule one.
People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.
– Maya Angelou
