Pretty much every one I meet aims to provide great service to clients – and I am sure they succeed in the vast majority of cases.  However, one area where most businesses could improve is how they communicate with clients. 

There are two angles to this:

• How you communicate with the during the course of work or a sale.
• How you communicate with them in between work or sales.

So here are some thoughts around how to improve your company’s communications with clients in either the first or second scenario:

1. Keep clients up to date with what’s happening, even if nothing is!  People like to know that you haven’t forgotten them.
2. Agree in your business a clear path for customers once they have signed on the dotted line – welcome letter, pack giving them contact details of the people who they will be working with, terms and conditions, an idea of what they can expect now that they are your customer, how you will manage the work, what contact and reports they will receive, etc.
3. Discuss and agree with them how they want the relationship to be managed – in terms of communication (how often, how much detail) and service delivery.
4. If they are using a subscription or monthly/annual service from you, make sure that you seek feedback regularly and look at the invoice that is sent to them and send it with a letter or note thanking them for their business.
5. Make sure that anything you send them is of interest or value – e.g. it will help them in their job, is connected to their role or industry.  If you’re not sure what to send them, ask them what their key priorities and challenges are for the next six months.
6. Diarise to keep in contact regularly without sending stuff too frequently.  Once a month is about right for many people, but ask them to let you know how often they would like to receive what kind of information.  They might like a weekly digest for some things and monthly for others.  Always, and every time, give your clients a chance to opt out of some or all communications.
7. Look at the wording of your communications with clients – everything from emails and letters, to newsletters and articles.  Most people like to read something that is friendly and conversational rather than formal and technical.

© Bluegreen Learning Ltd