As cliché as it may sound, your clients or customers are, literally, what keeps your business afloat. They are the lifeblood of your company and business, and that’s why it is so vital to develop a strong relationship with them.

It’s about establishing respect and rapport so that your customers feel you’re looking out for their best interests and have their back, instead of just another check in your pocket. In building this trust and loyalty, you will open up doors and opportunities that you may never have previously envisioned, allowing you to not only help your customers succeed, but also lean on them to help your own business grow and thrive.

Here are some qualities and opportunities that make up, and come out of, a strong client relationship:

Customer Service

Customer service has been around for a long time, and years ago, a company might be able to get away with bad customer service. That’s not the case today.

Without strong customer service and/or a reliable product, your customer or prospect will just go to the next competitor who could be just a short drive, phone call or web search away.

Great customer service means not only meeting every demand of your customers, but also catering to their specific needs. Not every client is alike, and there’s no cookie cutter service plan. Search for actual solutions for each individual customers, and offer ways for them to grow their business and please their own customers.

High Character and Trust

As you may know, these are two qualities I feel very strongly about. No matter how tempting it might be to bend the truth to close a sale, greed and dishonesty have no presence in the workplace. In the long run, it will catch up to you, and sometimes, end up wiping out your business.

Establishing high character and trust with your customers means doing the right thing every time, giving them an honest take on any situation and building a relationship where you are genuinely interested in their well being. In turn, if your clients know you are a good person and they can trust you, the sky is the limit.

Referrals

This is exactly where great customer service, trust and loyalty pay off. Believe me, I know how hard it is to ask clients for referrals. Your first inclination might be to just get them the service and care they need without bothering them for something you need.

However, that’s not a wise strategy, and keeps you from growing your own business. You see, if you truly have provided your clients or customers with noticeable and meaningful solutions, along with timely customer services and care, they will be more than willing to refer people to your services and help your business grow. After all, they know that you need other clients and customers to continue to meet their needs and stay in business.

Therefore, you must find ways to generate referrals. Ask your most loyal customers to Yelp about their experience, or simply spread the word to others. You’ll be amazed at the kind of impact this can have. Another option is to have testimonials on your website, asking people to describe their experience with you. Whatever strategies you decide, they must be able to reach your target audience and resonate with people. Keep that in mind.

We are Here for You, Too!

The qualities and characteristics above are not exclusive to you and your clients. At Sound Business Services, we must do the same for you.

As your trusted advisor, we handle your most sensitive information. We know how important this is to you and, of course, our first obligation is to protect this information. But, more than that, it’s taking this data and providing you with real solutions to take your business to the next level.

That means looking at your key performance indicators and providing tools and strategies to turn this data into actionable steps for success.

Contact us today to see where your business stands, what you can do to plan for a better tomorrow, and what decisions you can make to help your business grow and thrive.