There are number of tips that help you to maintain successful relationship with your client. It is indeed one of the very important things when working on any project. A good working relationship with your client ensures mutual benefit, high level of shared comfort and reduces the likelihood that you will have to face difficult situations with your client. Human beings tend to value their relationships especially if any relationship has tendency to prove fruitful. So, it becomes very important for you to find awesome clients who are fond of you and your work and once you find them you should go extra mile to ensure their loyalty and esteem. In order to take you extra mile, here are a few ideas to get you started.
Never Turn your Back on them :
Good people are hard to find and when found they should never be forgotten. Majority clients look for someone they can rely on for long run. They don’t want to go in the rigorous procedure of finding a professional all over again. However, sometimes we as professionals consider clients as dependent on us for the execution of their tasks and we forget to stay in touch with them. It varies from project to project whereas; it has been seen in content management projects the communication between both tends to wither away after delivery of the content.
Staying in touch with your clients can do two goods: it shows your high business ethics and professionalism and secondly it can help you in getting new business on the basis of their referral. There are numerous occasions when you can show your gratitude to your clients. Holidays can be a good opportunity to show customers that you remember them, and you can combine a couple of work-related matters with a friendly best wishes email or greeting card. You can avail the chance to ask about their current projects and whether they have needs or problems. The biggest advantage you can have is that your clients can allow you to advertise your services to their website through a banner, new call-to-action buttons, etc only if you are on good terms with them.
Keep Tracks of their Needs :
The benefit of having big clients is that they are in constant need of professional support for their various projects. The marketing teams of such corporations often seek changes in existing promotional material. Furthermore, IT managers of these companies have responsibility to possess and use up to date technology either on their website or for re-designing the product manuals.
On the hand, there are small and domestic companies who vary in terms of need of a professional. The problem with small companies is you need to give them wake-up call and inform them about their rusty leaflet or outdated website design. It makes your job easy to market yourself before these small enterprises.
Working with offline companies should not distract you from exploring the Internet world. You can make good money while working online for various clients. A professional can always suggests the missing element in any company’s web presence. Your pro-activity and ability to sense required change can enable you to suggest marketing ideas that a customer couldn’t think of on their own: if you’re creating a website for someone, ask whether they’d like a newsletter or a mailing list, too. Educate them about the new technologies available that can help them in their growth while improving their web presence.
Trail their Activities :
It may sounds similar to previous advice, however; there is a fine difference because sticking to your client’s work schedule will help you to both keep in touch with them and predict their future needs so it’s coupled to the two practices we just went over.
Trailing their activities will help you to understand the working of that client. Every company has its own do’s and don’ts. The trail will lead you if followed consistently to a point at where you will be able to understand, maintain and execute the project immaculately. Following your client’s activity does not require you to meet your client personally one can do it with the help of social networks or newsletters.
Avoid Delaying Tactics :
Waiting for anyone or anything has never been easy thing to do. It raises expectations and a delay can ruin not only the anticipation but your reputation as well. It is very important to respond to your client at priority. It looks very unprofessional when you are asked some queries and you don’t take care of it in time. It has often seen that we slack a little after delivering the goods, especially if we’re the ones maintaining a website.
In order to combat with tardiness you can manage this by predefined acceptable waiting times for your clients. It is better to inform them about your available times. It should help you in avoiding the unnecessary delays in communicating with your client. It is understandable that sometimes being available is difficult but the decency requires you to at least inform your clients that you’ve received their request, and estimate a time for its completion.
Shower Privileges on your Clients :
Try to be gracious because it can earn you number of benefits. Clients that take good care of you in terms of compensation and other perks should receive some extra privileges. However, it is required if you are interested in establishing long-term relationships only then inform your clients of the ongoing benefits that come from collaborating with you.
There are various privileges you can give to your clients. The best offer is to give discounts to those who choose your services a second time. Allow your client to negotiate on pricing and other terms. Your ability to understand client’s position in terms of pricing and payment methods will give you advantage in building trust worthy mutually cooperated relationship.
You should also bring some novelty in your offerings. One of such kind is to offer freebies to customers who have stayed with you for a long period of time. It can be a banner, link, or other enhancement on your website or a free domain name renewal as it is timely and low-cost.
Make them feel important for you and show how much you appreciate your relationship with them. Many clients like to be on the top of the list of executing projects. So, it would be good to come up with some list of Golden Clients and allot the names accordingly.
The other side of picture is not good always. It happens that no matter how much you offer, sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned. At that stage you don’t need to be acerbated if a loyal client chooses a new service provider; maybe it will make them understand your importance. The actual test begins in the time of sour relation so, be very cautious in dealing with your client in difficult times.
Final Point :
The inter-dependency of client-employee relation makes it beautiful. It allows both parties to adopt certain techniques to deal with each other. The techniques are not universal as it varies from person to person and culture to culture. The constant thing is your dedication and ability to deliver in time with impeccable quality. If a professional does its job immaculately then rest does not make much difference. However, the tips can come in handy in both good and bad times. So, take every step thoughtfully and always keep some room to maneuver things accordingly.
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