And by limp, I’m not suggesting you get frisky with your clients in an attempt to earn their satisfaction – don’t do that.
Let’s be honest, we’ve started to settle.
We’ve started to settle for substandard customer service, we’ve become conditioned to expect it and even more alarmingly, we accept it too.
The bar is set so low that we find ourselves surprised when the waitress in a restaurant is polite or friendly, that kind of attitude is remarkable to us, it compels us to heap praise and tip generously.
Ever stop to think, hang on, good manners and a friendly attitude isn’t an exemplary service, it’s a bare minimum and should be a prerequisite?
Like I said, the bar is set low; so be pleasant and smile and you’re already winning!
On to the good part – here’s my advice to help keep your clients happy.
The Happy Client Check List
- Smile and be polite.
- Listen and never stop listening.
- Be flexible to small changes without charging by the hour.
- Respond to client emails very quickly. No they can’t wait until later, they don’t deserve to wait until later. Even if it’s just to acknowledge them – REPLY.
- Put yourself in your clients shoes, try to understand their frustrations.
- Manage expectations, be clear about your promises and deliver them.
- Email is terrible means of conflict resolution – pick up the phone and talk it over. Remember that according to scientific studies 55% of communication is body language, 38% is the tone of voice, and 7% is the actual words spoken. That makes email a pretty poor form of communication eh?
- Everyone makes mistakes. So when you make a mistake, hold your hands up and deal with it. It’s not about the mistake, it’s about how you react and how you fix it.
- Forget corporate policy (to a degree) and always go the extra mile.
- Be helpful. The power of doing a favour in marketing is proven; if you help someone for free (heaven forbid) – when the need for services come along, you will likely be first on the list.
- I’m not saying work for free for the rest of your life, but it’s the little things that count, 5 or 10 mins here and there can go a long way.
There is an exception to the rule, when you’ve tried everything on the above list and you’re client still remains unsatisfied and difficult, you’ve likely acquired a “bad egg”,ooops! Checkout my recent post; “The Customer Isn’t Always Right“; it sounds like a contradiction to this post but a few bad clients is inevitable, however charming you are.
Article extracted from the blog of Joe Perkins. Thanks Joe for your articles simplicity and sensitivity.