You can’t put a price on strong client relationships. You can, however, put a price on the time and effort that goes into nurturing these relationships (and, of course, the price of your service). So, how do you make sure that you’re entering a mutually beneficial relationship AND maintain this level of benefit moving forward?
Once, people would have told you to employ the “customer is always right” policy. Believing “the customer is always right” ends up benefitting no one. You run ragged trying to keep your client happy at any request, and your client never gets what they’re actually paying for.
Here’s what you really need to do to build strong, mutually beneficial client relationships.
Make sure it’s a two-way conversation
Are you really listening to what your clients are saying? Or, are you putting the same label on all of them? You have a certain understanding of your client before you’ve even met them. You’ve already mapped out their potential pain points and how your solution is going to alleviate these pains. You’ve done the necessary research to build a client profile that will help you identify your ideal prospects.
However, this doesn’t mean that all your clients can (or should) be treated the same way. Even if you come across clients who share similar experiences, you still need to take the time to delve deeper. You need to unpack each client’s pain with an attentive approach, not just shove a pitch in their DMs.
Don’t be afraid to challenge them
Part of building this understanding with your clients comes from not being afraid to challenge them. Sometimes clients will come to you, ready to accept whatever help you can give. Other times, they will have an idea of what they think they need and expect you to deliver that, no questions asked. More often than not, this always leads to dissatisfied clients and burnout business owners.
Clients come to you because you are the expert. While you should take their expectations into consideration, you have to be realistic about what you can achieve. A lot of the time, people don’t really know what they want. All they know is that they have a problem and they need a solution. There’s a chance the reason they’ve yet to find this solution is because they’ve been previously looking for it in all the wrong places. Be the person to finally show them the right place.
Learn when to say ‘no’
For your client relationships to truly flourish, you need to cut out the weeds – the ones that are stealing your time and draining your energy. Even when a client appears to be the one on paper, reality can be a completely different thing. Sometimes it might not actually be your service they are after, you have to be honest with them about this. Don’t make promises you know you can’t keep because you’re worried about losing a client. All you will be doing is taking the time you dedicate to them away from someone who actually needs your help.
Other times, people just can’t be helped. It’s frustrating when you know that you can transform this person’s life or business but they’re not willing to let you try. These types of clients will fight you on everything and prevent progress at every possible turn. It’s likely not intentional but saying ‘no’ to working with these clients will free up your time to build stronger connections with the ones willing to put in the work too.