Communicate with Your Clients
July 29, 2008
Roping together those few initial clients when starting up a business is no easy task. As a business grows, though, attracting new clients becomes progressively less difficult. However, staying in touch with clients you already have by regularly communicating is substantially easier than trying to hunt down new ones.
Life requires communication and that definitely applies to the business world as well. If you don’t keep in regular contact with clients, you will not be able to forge the strong, long-term business relationships that are essential to success.
Keeping an open line of communication with clients is extremely important, since this way you can keep them well informed. Remember that your client can’t physically see you, so communicating frequently will help calm any concerns they might have. This is especially important if you are working on a large project or with a client for the first time.
When any sort of miscommunication comes up, consistently contacting you client will help to clear things up quickly, without allowing the misunderstanding to affect your business in any sort of negative way. For example, what if you and your client confuse a deadline? Suppose you thought it had been set for the 18th, but your client was expecting delivery on the 8th. No doubt your client would be quite upset. Staying in close contact, however, will help you keep such problems from ever arising in the first place.
Emailing clients you’ve worked with in the past can be a good way to find new work. All you have to do is take some initiative and ask how they are and if they would like to avail themselves of your services again. Since your clients are busy people, it is easy for them to forget to get in touch with you. Therefore, it is vital that you work at maintaining communication.
Reminding past clients of the work you have done for them will also make them more likely to mention your name to people they work with. Word-of-mouth references are great advertising, so keep up the good communication with clients you have already worked with in order to keep your name fresh in their minds.
Emails and newsletters are a viable way to communicate with clients. Calling each and every client on the phone is certainly not necessary. Sending out a newsletter can also remind past clientele of past products or services they have purchased from you and promote new ones they could be interested in.
Making a newsletter to be sent to clients each month will not require a lot of time. You can hire a virtual assistant to do it for you if you prefer. Emailing a newsletter will keep your past clients informed about new sales or specials you are offering and will remind them on a monthly basis of your products and services.
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