Businesses acquire many clients as they grow and sell their products and services. But apart from acquiring new clients, continued support from existing ones is necessary for long-term success. Luckily, achieving that is not as complicated as one may think. Something as simple as acknowledging feedback could go a long way in improving client loyalty. That said, for effective client management and retention, a business should also have a solid strategy in place.
Understanding client management
Some organizations hire a client manager to manage the clientele. The individual communicates and works with clients to ensure their needs and the needs of the business are met. A few tasks a client manager may perform include:
Discovering opportunities for new work
Acting as the primary connection between the organization and the client
Building relationships with clients and their staff
Watching and analyzing trends in the client’s industry
Collecting data from client satisfaction surveys
Benefits of client management
Client management is essential for preserving and maintaining healthy relationships with clients. When confident in a business, clients deliver quality products or services. They also help bring in more clients for the organization. For instance, someone impressed by the business’s functioning might refer it to others in their network, improving brand recognition.
Tips to improve client management
A client manager should follow some basic tips for better client management:
Maintain transparency
A client manager should be as transparent as possible with clients. This means giving them updates about a project’s progress and any board decisions. Being honest about timelines and openly discussing issues are also important parts of transparency.
Improve communication
Constant communication is necessary to ensure the client is up-to-date. The manager could confer with the client to agree on a preferred method of communication, such as phone calls, in-person meetings, or emails. Communicating before, during, and after a project could help the client understand its objectives and offer feedback for improvement.
Align objectives and goals
The manager must check if a client’s interests match what the company can deliver. An alignment will ensure a strong client-business relationship. One should determine this principle before agreeing to a new task. Doing so may help set realistic timelines that will also meet client expectations.
Document everything
When handling and delivering client requests, a manager must document and sign off everything to avoid disputes. The documents should also be easily accessible to both the manager and the client.
Use a client management system
Some organizations adopt a client management system to monitor projects, share documents, and work better with clients. There are a few things one could expect from the client management system. For instance, the software should:
- Let managers share projects and tasks privately with clients and ensure they see only what is necessary.
- Include collaborative work management features to let the team and client access documents in real time.
- Enable managers and clients to work outside the software whenever necessary through compatibility with third-party tools.
- Have the necessary features while ensuring the interface is not cluttered but intuitive and easy to use.
- Include a status report template for clients to understand the progress of a project in real time.