The age-old maxim “the customer is always right” is an undeniably good guiding principle for any business. Addressing what your clients need and want (within reasonable bounds, of course) is a sure way of keeping them coming back for more.
What that saying misses, however, is that customers don’t know everything. Hearing about how their peers have improved their bottom line with SEO, they may reach out to you thinking that optimizing their sites involves just a little bit of keyword padding. To set your working relationship on the right track, it is important to manage client expectations, and properly, at that. The client may be right, but they’re certainly not infallible.
Genuinely keeping clients happy doesn’t mean always saying yes to their demands. What you have to do is make them see the value of signing up and ultimately sticking with your service. Demonstrate that you are an authority on SEO and digital marketing. Tell them about all your services, not just the ones that they think they need. Anticipate their needs.
Keep them Updated
You know all about search engines and the repercussions of their algorithm updates. Most of your clients, however, don’t. Their lack of knowledge on search trends is something that you can use to your advantage.
Should there be an impending update, take the initiative to explain to your clients how it will affect their rankings. Send emails or publish content in an easy to understand language that broadly explains the changes. Be direct and cite their online content as examples during meetings so the effects of the update become of concern to them and not remain abstract concepts. If you explain things well enough, they might sign up for your suggested solutions.
Let Them Know You Better
Each client is after something different. One may approach you for website design improvement, while another may be thinking about strengthening social media presence. Just because they have specific goals in mind doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t consider other services.
Employ the same strategy that retailers have used for decades. Don’t miss an opportunity to upsell your service offerings. Why let them go elsewhere for something that they can get from you? Remember, being silent about the other great things you do may lose you additional profit.
Know Your Clients Better
It is easy enough to talk about what you do, but not all clients have the time nor the patience to listen to long-winded presentations. To ensure your promotional spiel gets through to your more demanding customers, tailor it using their pressing concerns as examples.
Do some research about your clients. Are they undertaking any significant business moves, such as an expansion? Are they launching a new product? Have they made any attempts at digital marketing that were successful or provided unexpected results?
One of the worst things you can do is to waste your clients’ time. It is more than likely that they have already heard what other SEO companies are offering. Your message shouldn’t get lost in the din of what others have already said. Show that you know the issues they face and that you have the experience to help them out.
Engaging your clients by being a relevant service provider guarantees their satisfaction. By consistently demonstrating that you are the right choice, they will choose your services over those of others.
