As a B2B company, you know that if your clients aren’t happy, your business isn’t happy. Managing your clients is crucial for long-term success, and one of the cornerstones of running an effective operation. If you’re not listening to your clients, not respecting their time, or burning bridges over easily avoidable miscommunications, you’re not going to be holding on to them for very long.
Client retention is one of the most valuable pursuits of any business. Statistics show that about 80% of your future profits will come from just 20% of your client base, meaning there’s more incentive beyond just good customer service for making sure your clients are treated right at every turn.
In this blog post, we’ll dive into the benefits of what amazing client management can do — plus how to practice it.
The Benefits of Effective Client Management
Holding on to your customers is obviously a major benefit of stellar client management, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Aside from helping ensure that you don’t inadvertently guide your clients to your competitors, effective client management also offers a few other big advantages that you should know about.
It increases the length of your client relationships. Client management keeps your relationships going stronger for longer, which means more reliable income.
It increases the chance of client referrals. Happy clients are one of the best promotions around for your company. And as you might have already experienced, referrals tend to make the best clients.
It helps you identify your ideal customer. The more you know about the needs and preferences of your existing clientele, the better you can target new customers.
It gives you a chance to optimize your sales process. Giving your clients a voice will help you refine your sales process in a way that better appeals to the audience you’re trying to attract.
Client Management 101
You know why it’s necessary, but do you know how to put it into practice? Here are five essentials to making sure your client relationships are as healthy as possible.
1. Have an Effective Nurture Strategy
Educated leads are valuable leads. And the better you nurture your leads, the more educated they’re going to be. Nurturing leads is about more than ensuring they know how to get the most use possible out of your product or service. When you prioritize open communication and other nurturing practices with your clients, you mitigate the risk of confusion and issues arising in your partnership, in turn leading to more satisfied customers.
2. Listen To Your Clients
Your clients are the best resource for knowing how to improve your product and stay ahead of the game. So when they give you feedback, don’t just note it down and say you’ll do better — bring it to your team, make changes, and show that you’re taking their concerns into account.
You can even take this one step further by sending your customers a survey on how well you’re doing. This gives you a chance to ask very specific questions about your customer service so that you can get transparent answers and know exactly what you’re doing well and where you need to improve.
3. Hold Educational Sessions and Customer Workshops
In today’s digital world, businesses and their clients don’t always get a ton of opportunities for face-to-face engagement. That connection is key, though, especially when it comes to viable long-term relationships. Hold educational sessions and customer workshops online or in person, and give your clients some face time. Not only will this be a beneficial opportunity for both of you to maximize their experience, but it will also help bring a more personable approach to your business.
4. Adjust Packages or Plans When Necessary
Businesses grow and change, which means that the longer your clients are with you, the more likely it is that their needs are going to evolve. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a client if you think that a different service plan or offering is going to make more sense for them. Making sure that they understand why you’re offering this change in direction will show them that you’re thinking strategically about their account and that you care about their success as much as they do.
5. Set Goals Together
The best client management practices are those that position your business as a partner instead of just a provider. By actively working with your clients on setting and meeting their goals, you take on a more strategic role in their operations. This can make you even more indispensable, and can also inform the sorts of features that you offer. The more you know about what your clients are trying to achieve, the better you can work to become the partner that helps them achieve it.
Great client management isn’t something that happens overnight. Make the strategies above part of your everyday best practices, and do whatever you can to show your clients how much they matter to you. You won’t just help guarantee their success; you’ll help guarantee your own.