The little and big things: Keeping your clients happy during a tough time
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It’s heartbreaking to see so many businesses struggling in the current climate, but it’s something that we can all learn from ourselves. If you’ve been lucky enough to keep your business up and running during this time, and you have held onto the company come hell or high water, the big problem is when you are trying to keep your clients happy. During these tough times, they are in a very precarious position, as they want to hedge their bets, so they could jump ship at any possible moment. What can you do to make sure that you are keeping your clients happy during this tough time?
Streamline your expenses to show you are sensible
The first thing to do is to make sure that you are showing your clients you are able to manage in this tough environment. Streamlining your expenses means you care enough to make sure every single penny counts, and the great thing is there are many ways for you to do this. You can incorporate practice management software to keep track of your expenses, or you can hire an accountant. Streamlining your expenses gives you the opportunity to show your clients that you are sensible during tough times. Many businesses feel that now they have to reach for the stars, but this is when we should batten down the hatches.
Call your clients
Simple, but incredibly effective. Communication will make everything easier. You need to be in regular contact with your clients. You need to make sure that they know how things are going with you, but also you need to make sure that they are happy with your service. It’s always good to ask for feedback, but also about making sure you appreciate that they are sticking with you. There’s a whole variety of customer service tenets to follow, but it’s important that when you are speaking to clients, try and be as personal as possible.
Be personal
The personal touch is crucial. Everybody is experiencing a difficult time right now. Everybody is going through personal issues, professional issues, and much more than we can see on the surface. From your perspective as a business, it pays to go the extra mile. It’s such a cliché to “do more for the customer,” but you need to show them that you care. Sometimes, this means not actually speaking about business, but checking in with them.
Be transparent
Realism is vital. We should never over promise during tough times. But we also need to be sure that when we deliver our services, that clients know what they should expect from us. While the goal is all about customer retention, we’ve got to be transparent, especially in the current climate. While we are slowly getting our way out of the pandemic, the far-reaching impacts remain to be seen. But regardless of the current climate, or what the future brings, your business will always see ups and downs, and it’s crucial to learn the lesson of being transparent.
It’s not easy to keep your clients happy during a tough time. But we have to remember that about the little things as much as the big things.
