When I relaunched my business in 2024, I expected to lose some clients. I was s narrowing my offerings and increasing my prices. To be honest with you, I did lose a few clients because my new business model didn’t align with their needs. But what surprised me was that 50% of my clients chose to move over to my new business with me. Why? I developed strong client relationships with them.
I’ve been working with some clients for YEARS because we work well together and have established this working relationship. I’d even call some friendships!
We can all agree that we’d much rather keep our amazing clients rather than constantly be on the hunt for your next contract. So, how do you build loyalty and strong client relationships?
Have Efficient Systems and Processes in Place
In my old business, I did everything manually. I kept so many reminders in Asana, and I constantly had scheduled emails ready to go. It worked at the time, but I have to admit that there were things I missed or forgot about. It wasn’t professional or a good experience for my clients.
I invested in systems, processes, and automation after relaunching my business. Man, is it a GAME CHANGER. And something I wish I would have done in my first year of business, not four years in. All my proposals, contracts, and invoices are automated through Dubsado, and I love not having to think about them. Plus, everything is on-brand and beautiful!
The automation ensures everything is on time on my end. My clients have a great experience because there isn’t a ton of back-and-forth over email anymore.
Consistently Check-In With Them
I know I just talked about how I don’t have to do this with Dubsado anymore 🙃 but this is different. Clients appreciate updates on your progress. You can decide the frequency that makes sense for your workflow and timeline, but send consistent check-in updates to your clients.
Clients tend to get a little nervous when they start working with a new contractor. They just paid all this money and want to know you’re delivering on your promises. If they never hear from you, they don’t know you’re doing the work, even if you are on the backend.
A simple email progress check-in goes a long way to form strong client relationships!
Show Your Appreciation
There are so many ways to show your appreciation for your clients. These are the things I do for my clients!
Send holiday gifts.
I love sending gifts to my clients! It’s a nice way to show my appreciation for the work we did in the current year and tell them how much I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them next year. I use the company Sugarwish for all my holiday gifts. It allows my clients to choose their gift and input their address so I don’t have to awkwardly ask for it 😂 It makes it super easy for all my gifting needs!
Send thank-you gifts for referrals.
Speaking of gifting, I always send Sugarwish gifts for referrals who book a service with me, whether they come from current clients or not. Word of mouth is a highly effective marketing strategy. I want people to know how much I appreciate their referrals. And clearly, gifting is the way I know how to do that!
Add a thank you message to invoices.
To show your appreciation, add a quick message of gratitude to your invoices. Clients will see your personalized thank you message every time they pay you.
Send referrals when I can.
I love to send my clients referrals when I can. I work with a lot of people in complementary roles to mine, so when the opportunity comes up, I’m happy to send referrals to my clients. Sending referrals to my clients shows that the gesture is mutual.
Work Collaboratively
It’s hard for people to give up a part of their business to a contractor, even if they know it’s the best thing for themselves and their business. Your business is your baby, and it’s weird not to be in full control of something. So, I always like to work collaboratively with my clients.
With my full-service blog management clients, we have quarterly strategy calls to discuss their topic ideas. I come prepared with 15-20 blog topics, and we also brainstorm new ones together. Then, at the end of the call, my clients pick the topics they want me to write for the next quarter. So, even though they aren’t writing the posts themselves, they feel involved in the process and are aware of what’s coming up.
Be Flexible… To A Point
My clients always appreciate when I can be a little flexible with them. When random life or business things come up, being flexible and understanding is okay. The circumstances vary by client, and your flexibility depends on what you feel comfortable with.
These are a few examples where I was flexible with a client:
- Client M was affected by a hurricane. Our blogs were delayed for about a month because she didn’t have Internet access to review them on time.
- Client R was switching banks and didn’t have her new credit card when her invoice was due. I allowed her to pay late without penalty.
Now, I add the caveat of ‘to a point’ because you still need clear expectations and boundaries as a business owner. Even if a client doesn’t do it intentionally, you could be taken advantage of.
An example of when I was NOT flexible with a client was back when I was working in my old business. AKA, I didn’t have any automation to do this for me… Client T hadn’t paid his invoice after a few days since it was due. I emailed him three reminders but hadn’t heard from him. Finally, I told him I stopped service until he paid his open invoice. I couldn’t continue without either a solid explanation (like Client R) or him paying (he did eventually pay).
Flexibility and understanding with clients go a long way, but you have to draw a line between what you’re okay accepting and what you aren’t.
Build Strong Client Relationships This Year
The best part about this strategy is that you can start now! You don’t have to wait until a new year or quarter to implement some of these tips to form strong client relationships. Integrate a few of these into your workflow and processes, and see how your clients respond. You might end up working with them for years (but only if you want to – you’re the boss!)
*This blog post may contain affiliate links. I never recommend anything I don’t personally love and use myself for my clients or in my own business!
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