We talk a lot on our blog about strategies to generate qualified leads, but what about the clients that you already have? How do you retain them?

If you face a situation where you have little access/opportunity to build a strong relationship with your clients, read on.

I came up with this idea some time ago for a commercial cleaning contractor. You may be able to adapt it to your business.

The problem...

The difficulty was that the contractor's teams arrived after hours, when everyone in his client's office had gone home. They did what they had to do and then left. As a result, his was largely a nameless, faceless service.

This had two major drawbacks.

First, while he could discuss performance issues at management level, he could not easily check with the staff who actually used the desks to ensure that they were happy with the service.

Second, as there was no personal relationship with his clients, when a competitor came along with a cheaper price, it was too easy for his clients to be stolen away. After all, unless there is something to create a different perception, a cleaner is a cleaner is a cleaner.

The solution...

To overcome this, we got his teams to leave little chocolates together with a note on each desk. The printed note was carefully written to highlight the quality and thoroughness of the cleaning service.

Next morning, the note reminded the employee that the cleaner had been in. As well as highlighting the service, it asked the owner of the workstation to leave a message if they needed anything to be specially cleaned or done in a different way on the next visit. The chocolate was a gift to "Whoever sits in this chair".

The result...

The relationship with his clients was strengthened considerably. Most importantly, when management was wooed by a competitor, the staff would jump to the defence of the contractor, even though he was not there. He therefore retained business that may have otherwise slipped away.

Action plan...

Look for things you can do so that you are not just taken for granted. Find a way to build your relationship so that your clients have a strong loyalty to your business — and will stay with you when competitors come knocking?

Need some help with attracting and retaining customers?

 We'd love to help you to grow your business, and you can be sure we will take a genuine interest in you, your ideas, your objectives and your challenges. So get in touch with us today by arranging a no-obligation chat about building relationships with your customers and your overall marketing needs.