10 Ways to Nurture your Existing Clients
Research is showing that it takes 6-7x more money to attract new clients than to retain the ones you already have!
Does this surprise you?
This proves that it literally costs us more than to constantly be looking for new clients than just to nurture the ones we already have in order to make sales.
If we’re not paying attention to our existing client’s and community, then it’s likely we are neglecting them. Neglecting our existing clients and community can lead to a decrease in client satisfaction and therefore how much money you bring in.
When a client or someone in your community has a positive experience, they are going to associate positive feelings with you and your brand. Science has even proven that people don’t remember what you’ve said, but they sure do remember how you’ve made them feel. Therefore, if you’ve made them feel happy and well-taken care of, they will much more likely to refer you to others and return to work with you again.
According to research from the Wharton School of Business, 83% of happy clients are willing to refer you.
That’s a big opportunity!
Here are my 10 favorite ways to continue nurturing my community and client’s:
Send a thank you card. Thank them for purchasing with you, for the collaboration, a referral, or anything they’ve done to help you. It’s so uncommon to receive a thank you card in the mail that this will immediately make you stand out. It also makes them feel seen for the work they did do to help you.
Follow-up after purchasing with you. There are endless reasons to reach out - maybe it’s to ask if someone arrived on time, to see how they’re enjoying their new purchase, or to even offer some kind of support. Ask yourself - when was the last time someone reached out to you about your recent purchase or working with you to see how you’re doing.
Spoil them with appreciation. Appreciation can come in many forms: sending a small gift, a shoutout in an email or a post, or even just hosting an appreciation event. You can never show too much appreciation.
Send a happy birthday card. Send a handwritten happy birthday card to your clients. Better yet, if you have a team, send one from the whole team. This was my favorite trick as a store manager because I wanted our best clients to know that they were a part of our family and always welcomed.
Find common interests. You might just be surprised how much you have in common with someone once you find out. Knowing what someone loves and enjoys can also be a great reason to reach out and connect deeper. It also helps to humanize you as a person. Start by asking lots of open-ended questions about them and stay curious.
Send things to them that remind you of them. Say you found out that your client loves to hike in the Pacific Northwest. When scrolling, you saw that this new hike opened for the season and you decide to share that information with your client. The fact that you remembered and took the time to share with them can go such a long way. It demonstrates that you were listening, detailed, and you take your relationship with them seriously.
Take note of your conversations and what they LOVE. It’s easy to lose track of the same details and what someone has told you if you’re not writing it down. My best practice is to write down immediately after conversation about all the things you talked about. Dates, names, places, goals, wishes, etc are great pieces of information that can help you sell something later as well as a reason to follow-up.
Keep in touch between sales. Reaching out does not mean you always have to be pitching your offer. In fact, if all you do is pitch, they will automatically associate your name with asking for money. Try to reach out using a few of the previous techniques shared or even just to see how someone is. Think about when you reach out to a friend - how often do you check in to see how they’re doing?
Celebrate and congratulate their wins with them. Celebrate when they reach a milestone, purchase something new, or complete their time with you. Congratulate any big moments in their life like buying a new house, saying yes to themselves, or achieving something you’ve been working on together. Be their cheerleader and make sure it’s authentic. There’s nothing worse than celebrating something you don’t believe in.
Focus on your client experience. Industry news is showing that client experience will be more important than price in 2022. That tells us that the experience someone has interacting with you is key in determining if they continue working with you and refer you to others.
Share with me in the comments what your favorite ways to keep clients coming back are! Have you tried any of these ideas?