Details matter: how small things can have a big impact on your clients
Client retention is – or should be – a major KPI for corporate firms. Of course, finding clients and building your client base is important, but if you don’t look after your existing clients, you risk losing them. The reasons for your failure to retain will start to become part of your reputational brand – and you don’t want to be a business that’s known for not giving clients the service levels they expect. Losing clients also means missing out on valuable referrals and more than that the impact of clients speaking negatively about their experience of working with you.
Consider the ‘how’
Most firms have similar levels of technical expertise and experience. So it’s usually the client relationship building that becomes a differentiating factor. For anyone managing clients – from account managers and fee earners to administrative staff – this is about more than just actioning the core work; it’s about paying attention to how you do things.
In fact, this attention to detail reflects your organisation’s culture. Continued errors will make clients doubt your focus, for example, or lead them to assume that their work isn’t important to you. A culture that drives focus on getting everything right for the client will inherently deliver better customer service.
Start from within
If you are going to give your clients the best possible service, you need to have good internal processes and relationships. Often, a client may have a central point of contact, but actually deal with several different people. They must feel that the information and approach is consistent across your firm – and that starts with how you interact within the organisation.
Businesses that value clear, regular and open communication automatically put themselves in a better position. You should have agreed processes, procedures and record keeping in place that build consistency in client communications and encourage habits that mean details are properly checked.
Small error, big impact
Something that looks like a small error to you may look like an act of disrespect to your client. And while you may be forgiven once for misspelling a name, for example, making that error more than once just looks like you don’t care. And if you don’t care about getting a name spelling right, how can your client be sure you are paying attention to the fine details of their project?
I’ve had this issue, plus a couple of other client service issues recently, which is why I wanted to set out some ways you can make sure you and your team are putting your client first:
Check everything – you never know what clients will notice, or what will bother them. So don’t send anything out until you are sure it’s accurate. This is particularly true with any applications you use that have autocorrect – don’t assume it’s right. Accuracy in detail makes your client feel valued.
Take time – when you are under pressure, which most of us are, it’s easy to dash something off so that it moves from your inbox to someone else’s. This is where errors can creep in, and it can take more time to resolve the problem you’ve created than to get it right in the first place. If someone has asked you to supply something, read their request or brief carefully and make sure you give them exactly what they have asked for. Clarifying questions can be important but asking about something a client has already told you, doesn’t look good and is likely to frustrate any client.
Be proactive – we all understand that timescales can slip or unexpected events can get in the way of delivery. If your client is expecting a document, phone call, meeting or other communication and you can’t fulfil that expectation, let them know as soon as possible. Give them a new timeframe and keep them up to date.
Be consistent – I’ve covered the need for your internal processes to support a consistent client service approach. This is important, because you don’t want your client to think that ‘the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing’.
Ask for feedback – I appreciate that, because you don’t always know what your client’s particular touch points may be, it may be hard to keep them completely happy. The answer to that problem is to solicit feedback regularly and openly. This will show your client that you are invested in the relationship and value their thoughts. It also allows you to note particular issues or expectations on their record so that everyone in your organisation can refer to it.
Look at the bigger picture
While it’s easy to get distracted by the minutiae of everyday client work, it’s very important to step back and look at the bigger picture. For each client, thing about:
What does the client already know about the work we are doing?
What might they not know?
What are their expectations?
What is the work helping the client to achieve?
How can I give them additional value?
Paying attention to these wider issues will not only help you to service your client better; it will build a stronger relationship which will lead to repeat or additional business, and referrals. For this reason, it’s an important part of your client retention approach.
If you’d like to discuss how I can help your team retain more clients, get in touch.