Dealing with clients is more than sharing their corporate perks. Creating strong client relationships is an art and is critical to gaining their return business. Here are some tips on how to achieve it.
Communication Is A Key for Strong Client Relationships
Communication entails more than a few emails exchanged weekly. If your client entrusted you with a project, they will expect regular updates on your progress. Don’t overlook any detail, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. This will demonstrate your attention to even the smallest aspects of the project. Your clients will feel much better if they know you are on top of every little thing. However, some companies take this to the extreme. Nobody wants or has time to read half a dozen emails every day from you. A good practice is to arrange the frequency of your reports with the client beforehand. That way you will both know what to expect. Always make sure to address all their concerns and ideas. If they know you are listening to them, it will go a long way towards creating a good, solid relationship.
Recognize Your Client as A Person
When dealing with companies, especially large, multinational ones, it is easy to lose track of people. Often, especially with poor communication, there is a tendency to see them just as a paycheck. This is detrimental to any relationship you are hoping to forge with them. This doesn’t mean you should ask them out for a beer every Friday night, however. Keep it simple. If they have children, ask about them. Perhaps you can find a common topic there. Maybe you have some extra tickets for a game of their favorite team, or you can get them. If you have a choice of delivering news personally or via email, go and see them. You will notice if they respond positively to this approach and adjust your behavior accordingly.
Get to Know Them
Once you have made initial inroads into developing a personal relationship, you will have a far better insight into how they work and how they like things done. This is an absolutely crucial step in developing a strong working relationship with your clients. Even before you have started working with them, you should do your homework. Research anything you can on them. What kind of company they are, how many personal, what kind of assets, any previous business dealing that may concern you. If you can get hold of someone who did similar work for them, that can prove extremely beneficial. Language is another important thing. Every industry has its own specific jargon and it is usually a good idea to pick up on it and use it. It shows professionalism and dedication, something all clients look for.
Trust Building as a Cornerstone of Client Relationships
Trust is a cornerstone of all relationships, client relationships included. All of the items above are just prelude to this one. For instance, successful casino reviews sites have earned their reputation by being honest with their clients. Each review they publish is organic, written by one of their users with the first-hand experience. That is why people who visit them know they can rely on the information they get from them. Of course, trust doesn’t come overnight. It takes a lot of time to build it and establish yourself as trustworthy and reliable. But once you get there, all that hard work will pay off. When your clients know they can trust you, they will be ready to entrust you with bigger and more lucrative projects.
Ask for Feedback
Asking for feedback will demonstrate your ability to work as a part of a team. It will show your clients that you value their opinion and are ready to listen. Of course, just asking for feedback and then ignoring it will achieve the opposite effect. It will only annoy your clients, especially those who tried to provide hones comments and went out of their way to do it. That is a very bad practice and you should avoid it altogether. Even you end up not using their recommendations, make sure you explain to them why.
Delivering Project on Time Will Ensure Strong Client Relationships
Nothing spells professionalism as a timely resolution of a project according to the specs. It is a great way of ensuring that your clients will consider you for any similar project they may have in the future. The key here is setting realistic expectations. This is something that you need to communicate with your client from a get-go. Understating your capabilities in relation to their demands is your main concern. Occasionally, you will hit a snag on the way. How you deal with it will play a large role in the way your client sees you. If you start panicking, so will they. If you remain calm and professional, with a healthy dose of optimism, they will trust you to resolve any problem you have encountered.
