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Five top tips for keeping clients loyal

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2nd Sep 2009
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Chris Barling outlines the principles of building client loyalty and how to deliver on these principles to keep them coming back for more.

It's a well known fact that repeat business is cheaper than acquiring new clients. Given the cost of generating fresh clients, building client loyalty may be the difference between business failure and a blazing success. It's also much more fun to be in business with clients who like you and want to continue doing business with you. However, while the principles of client loyalty might be simple, acting on them can be hard. Read on for my top five tips for maintaining your existing client base.

Under promise, over deliver

It's one thing to present a great offer to a new client and win their business, but then you have to deliver. If you can demonstrate that you really look after your clients and give them a great experience, they are likely to come back repeatedly.

This means that you should ‘walk the talk’. If there's something worse than bad service, it's being told how great the service is, then receiving the opposite. It's much better to actually deliver than mouth platitudes about it.

Stay in touch

I have found time and again in business that when people don't know what is going on, they will speculate, mostly negatively. So keep your clients informed.

Tell the client immediately if there is any issue at all with the service and take full responsibility for dealing with it. Never blame someone else. Nothing is more infuriating for the client than when their service provider blames a third party over whom they have no control.

Go online

The way clients shop for products and services is changing, so to secure their business you have to change with them. Be flexible and go multi-channel. In the Facebook age, people are pretty demanding. Ensure that your website provides a suitable ‘shop window’ for your business and use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to keep clients abreast of what’s going on in your firm.

You don’t have to meet this multi-channel expectation, but if you don’t the consequence could be that clients choose to go elsewhere. Research also shows that multi-channel clients are the most profitable ones, so by neglecting this area, you could be cutting your profits significantly.

Personalise

Look for every opportunity to personalise your service by displaying pictures of individuals and their contact details. The internet can be impersonal, so you need to communicate that your business is run by human beings who care about their customers. This also reassures them that they have a contact if there is any problem – so much better than a faceless corporation.

Take responsibility

When a mistake happens, correct it at the highest level. Clients appreciate it when a manager/partner calls, rather than the most junior person – it makes them feel important to the company. A simple apology works wonders.

Remind everyone in your organisation that you are one company and that it is everyone’s problem if the client is unhappy. Never let one department or staff member criticise another; clients will not be reassured by a company that is at war with itself. Focus on beating your competitors, not your colleagues.

Treat client complaints as an opportunity, not a problem. As well as exposing specific issues that need to be resolved, client complaints are a chance to learn and improve. They should be carefully analysed, not buried away and forgotten. It's also good to share both positive and negative feedback with everyone in the organisation. If staff are mentioned by name, pass this on for praise but don’t publish names in the case of criticism. This reminds everyone how important it is to keep clients happy and provides a well-earned pat on the back when things go well.

Review your service continually by contacting clients (or a cross section of clients) and check that they are satisfied with the service. You can do this by email or by telephone. This gives you feedback on your operation and also gives you another legitimate chance to sell more services. If they have a problem, look for solutions and deal with it.

The practices needed to engender customer loyalty are not hard to discuss, but they are difficult to do consistently over the months and years. The good news is they can enrich the experience of being in business and deeply reward you financially too. It's well worth the effort.

Chris Barling is CEO of Actinic

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By dialm4accounts
03rd Sep 2009 14:13

Thank you

Great article - thanks very much.

M

www.homebusinessaccountant.co.uk

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