Tweet

Seven Ways to Enhance Client Relationships

Written by: John Brennan

Article Overview: All other things being equal, people do business with people they like. If your product and pricing are essentially the same as your competitor’s, the relationship will become the differentiator for your customer. To retain the business you must deliver on your promise of quality, service and price, while building a comfortable relationship with your customer. Here are seven ways to do it.

Seven Ways to Enhance Client Relationships

1. Make yourself a reliable source for industry news. Provide your customers with a steady stream of news they can use to improve their business.

2. Under promise and over deliver. Delighting your customer is all about managing their expectations.

3. Build a rapport with your customer. Find some area of common interest that you can refer to each time you visit. Sports, food, family, hobbies and current events (but steer clear of politics) are topics to explore for common ground.

4. Be yourself but adapt. Share all of your winning personality with your customer but don’t over or under-whelm them. If your personalities are alike you’ll probably have smooth sailing, but if they are opposites the waters might get choppy. Opposites attract but the risk of misunderstanding is high. Mitigate the risk by adapting your personality to match your customer’s. The fact is you have a range of personality styles that will take you to the edge of your comfort zone, allowing you to adapt while remaining authentically you.

5. Model openness and authentic communication by sharing your own experiences, good and bad, with your customers. Communicate all your expectations; and be prepared to negotiate them. Initiate the conversation if you suspect misaligned expectations.

6. Made a mistake? Admit it, apologize, fix the problem and move forward. Make it perfectly clear that you accept your responsibility but don’t make your customer uncomfortable and hold back progress by over apologizing, either. Once is enough.

7. Check for understanding after every discussion of sensitive issues. Trust your instinct if you feel something is amiss. Confront problems tactfully, avoiding the human tendency to fix the blame not the problem.

Related Articles
  “Twelve Strategic Ways To Improve And Maintain Strong Healthy Client Relationships, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Building Your Client Relationships
  Are You Relationship Marketing
  How to Be Different in a Homogeneous Business World
  The Importance of Managing Clients for Your Home Based Business Opportunity

Article Tags: client relationships, differentiator, quality service, relationship



Related Forum Posts
Re: How Do You Fight Spam? - There are several ways in which you can stop spam: Client side: you can configure your email client to move spam to the junk mail, and you can do this by blocking their domain, some clients will even allow you to block ip blocks. Server side: you can set your server to have a white list, that can control spam before it gets to your inbox.
Re: Ideas For Business - Stas and lucy, Could you guys give us a recap of your entire business idea as it stands now. Seems like it morped a bit. Let us know: 1. Start date 2. Ways you will Market 3. What you will offer 4. How much will your charge for your offer
Why pay a Consultant? - Consultants can bring you into contact with a Funding Source but how do you tell whether a consultant will be successful beforehand? Professional Consultants ALWAYS ask for some kind of retainer so that they can feel they're not being used by a 'chancer'. However, when raising funding, a real consultant will offer to REFUND THAT RETAINER out of the % BROKERAGE he charges, payable once he finds your Funding Source, and payable from initial disbursements. Retainers only cover part of the costs that a consultant has to pay while working on behalf of the Client. Their real wages come from the agreed upon Brokerage, received when they are successful on the Client's behalf.
Re: Improving Cash Flow - Thanks for your information. guide on how to avoid the problems of over trading. <-- Where is this guide? Any URL? guide on debt factoring and invoice discounting: the basics. <-- Where is this guide? Any URL? I just want to learn more about this. I am also looking for a good article on: What exactly is Cash Flow? Ways to improve cash flow at individual level and organizational level? I think it is a problem of thinking and mind sets problem. If we can change the way of spending, we can have more Cash. Robert
Where to print a book - [quote:39vg8s93]So, writing a chapter a day, I finished in a month, and Kidpreneur: Genius Ways for Kids to Pay For College was born. Currently my book is self published -- I just printed up 100 copies to give to all the people featured in the book, teachers, and some more to sell at $20.00 a piece (it costs $10.00 a copy at Kinko's, so it's not really an outrageous price). [/quote:39vg8s93] If at all possible, you need to stop using Kinko's now and go price some real printers. It should cost only a couple of dollars a piece, if that, to print your book. Admittedly you'll have to buy in bulk, but the overall savings - selling a $2 book for $20 so that you make an $18 profit instead of a measley $10.... is something every kidpreneur should think about!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How to Handle the “I Am Not Interested” Objection

10 Reasons Your SBA Loan May Be Declined

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.