What is customer loyalty really worth?
One of the factors in the long-term success of any business is lead generation. Although many people spend a lot of effort on lead generation, continuing this ‘wining and dining’ experience that occurs, tends to diminish once you’ve landed the client. The fact is, the current clients you have are the people you should be focusing on THE MOST.
The Cost Analysis
This process of landing new clients and building out your client roster can be expensive, sometimes costing 5-25x more than maintaining your current clients. What tends to happen after this big upfront expense is that once the client hires you, the efforts going forward are diminished.
The Client Experience
The biggest factor to maintaining clients is ensuring they are happy and that the processes you have developed and implemented are providing a superior experience compared to that of your competitors. To do this, there are a few areas you can focus on.
Onboarding Experience
Developing an on-boarding process starts off the client experience on the right foot. Ensuring this first touch-point aligns with the rest of the client experience will start to establish the working relationship with your customer. It will show them what to expect when working with you.
In many cases, this will mean developing a system to follow that aligns with your businesses values. For us, we start with what we call ‘designing the alliance’, which basically outlines the way in which we will best work together. This process sets boundaries and expectations upfront while also creating an open line of communication.
Good Service
It seems like an obvious one. The fact is, many times this is overlooked. When we started our company, this was one area that was overlooked. The main reason it was overlooked was because we hadn’t determined what good service really meant to us.
Client Customization
Having a catered client experience in place will not only help projects run smoother but will also show your experience and expertise as a service provider. Each touch point is critical at the start but even more critical as the relationship continues so having strong systems in place ensures you are set as you grow with your client.
For us, strong project management integration, client portals, and CRM systems are all areas we focus on regarding our client customizations. We are currently building out our automation as well to ensure the systems are built to grow as clients increase.
Stay on Their Radar
This one is a simple one that we’ve let go by the way-side. Regular check-in or follow-up emails are one way to keep your brand top of mind. When you stay top-of-mind, you increase your touch points and increase your chances of repeat work. I’m not talking about spamming your clients here. For us, besides our regular check-ins / follow-ups, we also leverage debriefs to ensure the lines of communication are as open and transparent as possible.
Growing with Your Client
When your client feels like they are your most important client, they will be enticed to continue working with you. The trust will increase and the growth and evolution of the relationship will too.
Although it may seem overwhelming to implement these strategies to improve your client experience, ultimately it will lead to more success for your business. Beyond that, it will also help you clarify what is important to your brand and will help you grow as a company, along with your client. The ultimate value in customer loyalty? Brand clarity and improved customer experiences and increased sales - and we see that as the best investment you can make on your business.