The Secret to Business Growth: Client Satisfaction

It costs a lot more to win a new customer than to keep an existing one; in fact, according to The Business Review, US corporations lose half their clients in 5 years! Now I know you're not a mega-corporation, but it is still VITAL to your business to have regular clients. Regular clients you like and who give you the assignments you want, not just ones you need. Do you make keeping clients a top priority in your business? Do you have retention strategies in place for doing so? If not, then read on!

I just attended the Creative Freelancer Conference in Chicago, and saw an excellent seminar by PR veteran Joan Gladstone on this topic. In the past, I've written a lot about winning new clients; now I am inspired to help you get thinking about keeping your best ones.

What Is a Good Client?

Do you already know who your best customers are? If not, it's worthwhile taking some time to identify these. This will allow you to focus your retention marketing activities (and budget) on only the best ones, the ones that will build and grow your business. You'll make a lot more money in the long run if you can continue to work with your best clients, and let go of the others. You'll be happier, more profitable, and more fulfilled.

Not sure how to figure out who your best clients are? Here are a few key items to think about:

• Sales: how much money does this client bring into your business each year?
• Niche: what type of assignments do you get from this client? Is it relevant to the work you want to do?
• Profitability: how profitable is this client? Are you making a good profit from the assignments you get?
• Likeability: yes, this counts! Do you like working with this client? Are they easy to work with?
• Creativity: does this client provide you with opportunity to collaborate creatively? Are you able to contribute your vision to the project?

It's Not You, It's Me

When you lose a client, it can be a lot like a breakup. Some breakups are a relief, others can be downright heartbreaking. So what do you do when one of your clients wants to "break up"? You can ask why, but you may not get a straight answer; after all, there's bound to be some hurt feelings involved. Joan Gladstone lists 10 main reasons why clients leave:

1. Failed to meet deadlines
2. Did not meet budget
3. Lack of follow-through
4. Did not keep client informed of project status
5. Poor or inconsistent quality
6. Did not meet expectations
7. Over-promised and under-delivered
8. Lack of enthusiasm
9. Order-takers vs. idea generators
10. Lack of good chemistry or trust

So now that we understand more about why clients leave, it's time to look at what you, as business owners, can do to keep the relationship alive and flourishing.

Project Professionalism

No matter what client you are working for, you need to project professionalism at all times. From your emails, estimates (see this month's guest article from Jennifer Kilberg for more on this), voicemail, portfolio, delivery, and attire...everything should reflect your brand and demonstrate your professionalism. Here are some tips for making sure this is happening in your business - every day:

1. Dress for success. If you are meeting your client face to face, let them know you're a serious contender by dressing the part. You don't need to wear a 3-piece suit, but I say that jeans are a no-no for client meetings, or any business meetings. Look clean, ironed, and presentable - it goes miles towards building client trust.
2. Have a professional email address and website. Trust me on this - clients do NOT want to email you at hotpartychick484@hotmail.com. Have contact information they can remember, like jenny@jennymillar.com. You want your clients to recognize the creativity and value you can bring to the job, and nothing erodes that confidence more than having an inappropriate email address.
3. Use the Out of Office Feature. Are you going to be out on a shoot? At a conference? On vacation? Are your clients aware of your absence? This is the best reason to use the out of office feature on your email client. Letting clients know the period you will be out of contact, or providing an alternate contact, demonstrates your dedication to their needs.
4. Brand, Brand, Brand! Do you have templates for your estimates or invoices? All your administrative pieces should reflect your branding. If you are billing for a $10,000 job, show the client they made a good investment; don't send a misformatted Word file!
5. Telephone Etiquette. How do you answer your business line when it rings? Whether you have staff that does this for you, or you're a one-person studio, set up a standard office greeting. Something like "Jenny Millar Studios, Jane speaking" will do just fine. Also, you are going to want to ensure you have a professional voicemail greeting. Make sure you let callers know how long you will be out of the office and estimate when you will call them back.

Make Realistic Promises

So, you're enthusiastic about a new assignment? That's great! Nothing means more to a client than to have a vendor be truly excited about their project. But don't let all the excitement get to you; you need a clear head to consider exactly what this client needs and what you can reasonably do. It's very easy to get caught up in the project and start making promises you don't know you can keep. Perhaps it's a rush job, and if you take it on you'll have to pull a week of all-nighters. Can you reasonably do that AND provide the quality expected? Prove to your client that their project means so much to you that it must be done correctly - they'll respect you more for it.

Use Your Words

One of the best tools you can use is communication. Seems simple, right? In this day and age we have access to innumerable communication tools: phone, email, IM, text, Skype, voicemail, Blackberry, iPhone, etc. Show your client just how important they are by keeping in regular communication with them while you are working on their project. Do you have a schedule of deliverables? Make sure you let them know as you cross each of the milestones. Have you hit a snag, and expect some time delays? You must let them know! Has your client exceeded the scope of the estimate? Don't just invoice them at the end of the job; contact them right away and let them know what additional charges they can expect. Keeping in regular contact with your client will help to build trust and keep them loyal to you.

It's also useful to mention the importance of balancing your communications. Make sure that whatever it is you are sending has a purpose, and is written professionally. If business writing isn't your forte, most local colleges offer night classes that can help; they're worth the investment! But to get you started, here's a useful link: The 10 Commandments of Business Writing.

And be respectful of your client's communication preferences, which you should ask about at the beginning of your assignment. Do they want to hear from you every day? Once a week? Just at specific project milestones? Demonstrate to your clients that you respect their individual needs, and you will go miles to building the trust you need to keep them.

Stay Connected

Just because you aren't currently doing a job with them, doesn't mean that your clients don't want to hear from you. Keep them engaged so you stay top-of-mind for their next project. How do you do this? Well...marketing, of course! Does your marketing plan include strategies for keeping existing clients, as well as winning new ones? If not, it should! (Need help with creating a marketing plan? Check out our popular white paper: Plan for Profit. Email is a great way to do this, newsletters or email blasts are fast and inexpensive to create and distribute. These could include information on new jobs you just did, awards you've won, personal projects you're working on, a recent vacation...anything you think you're recipients would be interested in. You could also look at doing a printed newsletter, which is a great way to stand out from the daily email deluge. No matter what you do, let your clients know that you are doing something.

And the Survey Says...

Once your project with a client is complete, your work isn't quite done. If you want to work with them again in the future, now is a good time to find out if that could happen. The best way to do this is to survey (anonymously, of course!) your client to see how the job went. This is a great way to gauge satisfaction, discover ways to improve, and maybe even get a testimonial for your website. We use Zoomerang here in the ADBASE office, but there are many online survey services available to choose from. I definitely recommend something short; it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes of your client's (valuable) time to complete. So, once your assignment is nearing completion, thank them for the opportunity to work on the project and let them know that you would like to send a survey about their experience. Make sure to let them know that the results are completely anonymous, and ask them to be as frank as possible.

Once you get the surveys back, look at the results objectively. Don't take anything personally - after all, this feedback will help you improve in areas where you're weak and reinforce the things you're doing right. That information is invaluable, and should be used in your marketing plan to ensure you are applying each learning to your client retention strategies.

So, there you have it...some useful strategies for keeping your best clients. How are you doing when it comes to repeat business? Do you get an A+, or a C? Try some of these suggestions and email me at jmillar@adbase.com to let me know how it goes, or share some of your own solutions.