Plus, what’s more, exciting as a business owner than to know that people want to work — and KEEP working — with you?

 

I have a Business Management degree that has helped me a ton along the way, and one of the biggest takeaways I learned is that it is not difficult to keep people happy. Even when you don’t produce a desired result or mess something up (which happens! That’s life), you can still always manage and maintain a solid relationship with your clients.

 

Promise.

 

Here are our go-to methods for retaining clients within our agency.

 

I can assure you that retaining clients is really and truly not as hard as it might sound. While there are always things you can’t control, there ARE things that you can control — and these are 3 of your biggest.

 

Strong communication is the bedrock of everything you do as a service-based business, and it is the absolute best way to cultivate and keep a beautiful working relationship. By keeping your clients plugged in and letting them know what to expect, you’ll cut down on questions AND increase client trust — two very, very important things. Our rule at System Envy is to always respond to clients within 24 business hours, and to check in with our clients on Slack every 2-3 days (if not every day).

 

The goal? To never, ever have your clients reach out to find out where you are on a project.

 

I cannot tell you how many phone calls I’ve had with new clients who have told me their previous ad manager left them hanging or would take days and weeks to respond — and this blows my mind. It’s just so easy to send a quick email or Slack message, even if it says “I received this and want to give it some thought, I’ll respond soon.”

 

Everyone likes structure and knowing what to expect, which is where setting expectations comes into play. By setting expectations, having everyone crystal clear on what each person’s responsibilities are, and sharing detailed schedules and FAQ’s, it’s so much easier to stay on track and to keep your clients happy.

 

When it comes to setting client expectations — and team member expectations, but that’s a whole other post — let your clients know what’s included, let them know what’s not, and then go above and beyond where you can. Also, flexibility is part of life as a small business owner — so always leave room for that, too!

 

When all else fails, professionalism should never. Ever. By creating a professional, personable, and empathetic persona and client experience, you can promise that you’ll always behave the right way and feel good about any response you’ll need to make. It’s also just a good reminder that you and your clients are HUMAN. People get moody, they go through things, and they have bad days — which is where professionalism has to continually show up.

 

I’ve had two clients in 11 years that went south… and fast — and it was a really important lesson for me, personally, of how important it is to stay professional. It’s not fun to feel particularly vulnerable as a business owner, and staying professional is how you can cover your arse (we don’t want nasty remarks floating around the interwebs, right?!) and know that you reacted in a way you can be proud of.

 

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It’s not as hard as you might have thought to create really great working relationships, huh? If you’re intentional about how you run your business and treat your clients, you WILL keep and retain clients for a long time — and I already know you can do it!