Regardless of what type of business you run or what job you do, at the core of all successful businesses and careers are relationships. There is little doubt that one of the most important skills you must master to be successful is the skill of relationship building.

Doing a few simple things to build relationships with your clients and/or stakeholders can mean the difference between barely hanging on or thriving in today’s tough economic times.

1.    Visibility

Visibility is letting your clients and stakeholders see who you are and what you stand for. Do you have a vision for your business or organisation? What about a mission statement? Are these displayed and communicated to your clients and stakeholders?

These two items represent what is important to you and your business, and can go a long way to building trust with your potential and current clients and stakeholders. A great way to communicate them is to ensure they are prominent on your website or included in your corporate brochure or other business marketing collateral.

2.    Knowledge sharing

Another important aspect of relationship building is sharing knowledge. When a potential client contacts your business, you are in a unique position to respond to their question and give value and information before ever receiving compensation.
Sharing your knowledge builds credibility with customers and entrusts them with your ability to help solve their problems.
Knowledge sharing is also an ongoing way of providing your clients with a value-add that will keep them coming back.

Examples of effective ways to knowledge share are seminars, information briefings and target letters. For example, for professional service firms, seminars and briefings are a vital way to inform clients about legislative amendments or changes in taxation rules.

Targeted letters are a more personal way of communicating specific advice or information to select clients, and gaining new business from existing and potential clients.

3.    Regular communication

A third way to build relationships with prospective and current customers is simply keeping in touch with them. There are simple ways such as sending a quick ‘thank you’ card after a sale, which will make your business stand out in your clients’ minds because so few businesses follow-up in such a personal manner.

Sending a quick message to potential clients saying “Thanks for stopping by. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you,” will foster improved relationships and possibly turn a stranger into a trusted and loyal client. Evan a simple email or occasional phone call to follow-up on how they are doing will be well received. The main thing is to ensure your communications are regular, sincere and focussed on your clients’ needs.

A more consistent and ongoing method of communicating with your customers and stakeholders is through a regular newsletter. Newsletters are a more general way of keeping clients and stakeholders up to date with your business activities and the best way of keeping the lines of communication open over a long period of time. However they are less likely to generate specific new work.

There are plenty of options for newsletter formats now, including a traditional printed one, an email newsletter or an email with a link back to stories on your website. Newsletters can benefit your clients in a number of ways, specifically:

• Adding value to your service
• Informing and reminding clients (and referrers) about your knowledge, skill and service offerings
• Keeping them informed of the latest information in your business or industry sector

However, for your audience to stay tuned in, you need to ensure it contains information they consider to be valuable – not just what you consider to be important to say to them.

Some important things to consider

Before you commit to generating a newsletter:

• How often will you produce your newsletter – taking into account the level of commitment required and the value of the information to clients?
• Whether you have the capacity to produce it in-house or whether you require the assistance of a graphic designer to develop a template or ongoing design for your newsletter and manage print production
• Whether you have the capacity and skill to write the content in-house and keep up with the regularity of producing it, or whether this would be better outsourced to a professional copywriter

To ensure your newsletter is an effective marketing tool:

• Link your newsletter to the other marketing activities such as seminars or briefings you would like to promote. Perhaps run a seminar with a complementary service firm, for example, an accountant or financial advisor you work closely with. You might then put together a joint newsletter and your services could be promoted to both your clients and their clients
• Make sure your newsletter has practical tips, is concise and is proofed for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Ensure the newsletter encourages your clients to contact you for further information
• Ask clients how helpful the newsletter is. Listen to any suggestions they have for changes

4.    Feedback

A fundamental part of any relationship is finding out how you are doing: What is the quality of the service you are providing? Is there something you should be doing that you currently are not?

Although you may feel you know what your customers think about your business, many clients still leave, often with little or no warning and only after they have shared their grievances with another ten potential clients.

It’s not possible to offer quality service without addressing client feedback on perceptions of your business’s responsiveness, level of understanding of your clients’ needs and value for money. Customer satisfaction surveys are also useful if you are planning a major change to your business or researching a new opportunity, for example, setting up a new retail outlet or office in a new area.

It is preferable to engage a professional market researcher to design, deliver your surveys, and analyse the survey data, not only so you get optimal results, but also so your clients are more open in responding. In the case of your most important or “A” clients, it is best to ask for feedback in a face-to-face meeting with the client. It is also essential to have an impartial party conduct the meeting to increase the likelihood of getting an honest response to the questions asked.

Also, depending on who your clients are, the nature of your business and what you are seeking to find out, it may be appropriate to conduct more qualitative research in the form of focus groups. Your market researcher can advise you on the best approach for your business.

5.    Rewarding loyalty

Your good clients (A and B clients) including your referrers (and/or stakeholders), are vital to your business and should be rewarded for their ongoing loyalty. You can strengthen your relationships with these key clients by recognising and rewarding their support. There are a few easy ways you can do this:

• Acknowledge referrals. This simply means contacting the person by phone or letter and saying thank you. You may even wish to send them a small gift
• Engage clients in regular social functions as a means of recognising their value. These are also a great way of raising client awareness of new developments, and new products or services you may have to offer. Lunches, taking clients to sporting matches or to the theatre or ballet are all ways of thanking your clients in an informal atmosphere. A regular get-together or drinks are important for staying in touch with some of your key clients, but won’t suit them all. Be sensitive to your clients’ preferences. Christmas functions as well as social contact through the year can provide an opportunity to reward clients for their support
• Send greeting cards and/or gifts at appropriate times of the year. Gifting is a great way to let very important clients know that they are a special part of your business – but don’t forget to use this opportunity to reinforce your brand. For help with corporate gifting that leaves a lasting impression of your business, talk to a professional product company or marketing consultant
• Participate in client publicity as a means of recognising the contribution of clients. For major clients, participating in advertising features or sponsorship initiatives can help demonstrate that you value and support that client

Don’t lose focus on your business to build relationships

In a world full of fast-paced, average-at-best service, it takes so little to stand out in the crowd. By following these five steps, you give your business a far greater chance than most of succeeding in building strong relationships. However, it’s important not to lose sight of your core business.

If you would like more information about any of the five keys to good relationships, or help with any of the tactics we discussed including newsletters, targeted letters, briefings and seminars, client surveys, interview or focus groups, or updating your corporate brochure or website, please give us a call. Building relationships is our specialty.