3 Ways to Nurture Clients Even After They’re Finished Working with You
If there’s one thing that can make or break a service-based business, it’s the experience you provide for your clients. Not only is the client experience crucial to making sure your clients are happy, leave great testimonials, refer you to others, and possibly come back for repeat business, but also perfecting your client experience allows you to sell the heck out of it in your marketing message.
Your client experience doesn’t just span from the first interaction to when you start working with them. It also includes your off boarding process and how you treat them once they’ve finished working with you. But how can you still nurture these relationships even after the project is all said and done? There are three simple yet powerful ways you can do so, and that’s what we’re going to cover in this post!
Send a Thank You Notes to Your Clients
If you know you’re about to off-board a client, send them a small thank you card or gift. Part of crafting a great client experience is learning about your clients, their interests, their lifestyle, etc. You can use this information to pick out a heartfelt gift that shows you paid attention. If you know they religiously hit up Starbucks every morning, send an e-gift card to take care of their next drink or two. If you know they have pets, maybe send inexpensive toys or accessories. Small, thoughtful gifts can go a long way. Clients love knowing that you cared about them, and it can leave a lasting impression.
Let Them Know You’re Thinking of Them
This is one of those touches that we find super endearing and not one that we come across often. Usually when you’re a small business owner, you get to know your clients really well. You hear about their family life, their job, their hobbies, and dislikes. Sometimes your clients go through some pretty tough stuff or they’re often celebrating huge personal milestones. Highlight these and let them know you’re thinking of them always. You can communicate this in a handwritten note, a cute greeting card or a sweet text (if appropriate).
This shows that you haven’t forgotten about them and don’t just see them as a business, but as a real human being, and you care about what they do!
Share Their Stuff
Show your support by sharing their stuff! If you read a blog post of theirs you really liked, share it with your audience. If they’re promoting a launch on Instagram, share their post to your Stories. If they posted a super inspirational post, tag a friend in the comments. Engage with their stuff when you see it come across your feed. You don’t have to write a super long post promoting their stuff for them, but a simple share, like, or tagging a friend can look really good to an ex-client!
Remember that small actions can make a big impact. These actions will take you all of 5 minutes to do, yet they’ll last with your clients for a lifetime! Paying attention to the post-project part of the relationship and nurturing even after the project is over is the best way to guarantee killer testimonials and referrals. We know plenty of businesses who get most of their clients just from word-of-mouth referrals, so send that gift, share that post, or congratulate that success, and you’ll be amazed by how it affects your business!
