How much do you value your clients and customers? Are you aware they are not considered the same person? Here’s a definition of each from Collins Dictionary (also at: :https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/us/english-usage/what-is-the-difference-between-customer-and-client)
“A customer is someone who buys something, especially from a shop. She’s one of our regular customers.
A client is a person or company that receives a service from a professional person or organization in return for payment. A solicitor and his client were sitting at the next table.”
Understanding subtle differences can make a big difference when building and maintaining strong relationships with clients and customers. If you want to show them how much you value them, here are five tips that can help you enhance your business relationships. By the way, the same efforts are required for personal friendships too.
1: Develop an efficient system to stay in touch with everyone you meet. Develop an efficient system to stay in touch with everyone you meet. This requires being organized and having an adaptable system to stay in tune with advancing technology.
2: Use spelling and grammar checks. Using spelling and grammar checks is essential. These mistakes indicate a lack of attention to detail. What bothers me the most is when I share how my name is spelled unusually, and the person continues to misspell it. This blatantly shows a lack of respect and attention to detail. Do you agree, or am I being too fussy?
3: Be on time! Especially when in the role of wanting to do business with someone, it is absolutely unforgivable to be late. If you must be late, call the person you are meeting with an updated arrival time. Upon arrival, reconfirm that there will still be enough time to meet. To be late or a no-show without a reasonable explanation is at the top of my list of deal breakers.
4: Admit mistakes and make up for it. As humans, we all make mistakes. The important thing is to acknowledge them and take responsibility for them. When an apology is necessary, express it genuinely.
5: Respond to all calls and messages. Nothing burns me more than not hearing back from someone, especially when I want to give them money for their product or service. Failing to respond (ideally in 24 to 48 hours) is crucial. Longer than this is detrimental to building a trustworthy relationship.
The above tips are only the beginning of ways to show our clients and customers we care about them. These tips also apply to personal friendships. We must all nurture our personal friendships in these same ways.
I’d love to stimulate more discussion on this topic by hearing about how you attract and retain your clients and customers. Share it in the comments section.
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Happy Practicing!