Trying to constantly dazzle clients does not build loyalty; reducing the amount of time, money, and effort, aka the work they must do to get their problems solved, does!
Growing up in the corporate world I was taught to always “exceed expectations”. But a recent article from Harvard Business Review points out that this only marginally increases customer loyalty. Too often we “spin our wheels” unnecessarily in our efforts to delight when simply focusing on meeting our customer’s needs with practical, low-cost, and efficient solutions for their problems is a better strategy.
The truth is we are in a hellish recession/depression and clients aren’t interested in buying circus acts; instead, try to anticipate your client’s future needs:
- Give them a free tutorial
- Documents the processes you do for them in case there is an emergency and you are unable to complete ongoing assignments
- Suggest logical next steps for your clients that will increase their business
Acting deliberately on these insights will increase customer loyalty and decrease client churn.