This Valentine’s Day you may be giving your sweetheart a box of Godiva chocolates, sending him or her a dozen long stem roses, or making a reservation at the nicest restaurant in town to show how much you appreciate and love them.
But your honey isn’t the only one who wants to know they are appreciated. What have you done to show your clients some love lately? Your clients want to know that you think of them and that you have their best interests in mind at all times.
Here are four ideas, inspired by Cupid, sure to make your clients feel extra special:
1. Show up at the door with flowers: Think back to the last first date you had (for some of us this is longer than others). Wasn’t it great to open the door and see a beautiful bouquet of flowers (or if you gave flowers, to see your date’s face when she opened the door)? It starts things off on the right foot.
Now think about what happens when a client first signs on with you. All sorts of excitement is built up during the sales process. Your client signs the agreement, and then what? Silence? You send a long document outlining the project? You send the first invoice?
Create a coming-on-board experience that welcomes clients and starts things off on the right foot. Our accounting firm sends a welcome kit to all new clients that includes a welcome note, mugs, coffee, and calendars. What can you do to welcome your clients and make them feel like they are a part of your team?
2. Be spontaneous: It feels good when you get a call out of the blue from your sweetheart saying he or she wants to take you out to dinner.
Once you are working with your clients, how often do you check in, not about the project at hand, but off the clock just to see how they are doing? A simple phone call out of the blue to see how your client’s son’s violin rehearsal went, for example, can go a long way.
3. Plan the date ahead of time: I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being the one who has to take the reins and plan a date. I like to show up and be wowed.
In the same vein, your client should not be the one taking control and leading the project. That is why they hired you. Do you update your clients regularly on what you are doing and the progress you’ve made? Are you proactive in making suggestions and moving the project along? It sounds simple (and it is), yet many professional service providers get so wrapped up in the project that they forget to share with the client all they are learning and doing. Good client service means staying a step ahead of your client.
4. Shower them with gifts: Courting is a wonderful thing. The gifts, the compliments, the excitement.
In the marketing and sales process you’re courting your prospects. You shower them with lunch meetings, presentations, white papers, and phone conversations. This shouldn’t end as soon as the prospect signs the agreement. Take your client out to lunch or to a sporting event. Send your client articles or other content that can help them in their role or situation. Let your client know that they are a priority and on the top of your mind at all times.
Remember, it is a relationship business. And just like you want to show your sweetheart appreciation, it’s important to take the time to show your clients as well.
