We all need excellent client relation skills, also known as customer service or customer relationship management. These clients we need to deal with can be from all kinds of locations.They can be within the same company and rely on your services. They can of course be outside customers or clients that have hired you or purchased something from you.
They can even be your supervisors. Anyone that needs something from you can be considered a client.
The bottom line is you want them to want to stick around!
Retention will depend greatly on how well you relate with your client and attend to their needs, whether it be professional or personal.
They want to know that they matter and you are there to accomplish what needs to be done.
Your productivity is very important and your communication skills are even more important. If you do not communicate in the manner your client understands, you may have issues with interaction.
I have written another article named “Finding Your Audiences Language” that could be very helpful in this area.
Here are a few Keys to Great Client Relations:
Here are a few Keys to Great Client Relations:
- Communication
- Responsiveness
- Accessibility
- Service and/or Product Knowledge
- Knowing Your Clients Expectations
- Handling Client Issues Promptly
Wikipedia states it in the following way:
“Customer relationship management is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support.
The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service.
Once simply a label for a category of software tools, today, it generally denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing departments and even beyond. When an implementation is effective, people, processes, and technology work in synergy to increase profitability, and reduce operational costs.”
Obviously, the benefits of attaining the above would be of great value to any company. There would be improved service, higher close rates, better target marketing, reduced expenses, higher productivity, and higher overall profitability.
Does that sound good? I bet it does!
A good question to ask yourself is; “How available am I for my clients?” Another is; “How responsive am I or my team to address an issue?”
Does it take days for you to respond or are you right on it? This is a very important aspect of client retention and loyalty.
Clients will want to be loyal to a company or service that is there for them. They need to feel important. When they need help, you should provide it as quickly and with as much quality as you possibly can.
Make sure to know your service or product well. It is very beneficial to have a great team for client support. If you do not understand something, be aware of ways to find the needed information.
If you do not support a certain aspect a client is requesting or needs help with, be honest. None of us likes a ‘runaround’ approach.
Be sure to find out directly from your client what they expect right off the bat. Do not allow for second-guessing here.
Mistakes are human, but they are not profitable! Have a conversation with the person or team you are assisting and talk about exactly what needs to be done and by what date it needs to be done by.
You and your company are sure to gain fantastic results from fantastic client management.
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