Running service-based business, it is essential that you pay attention on your prospects and clients alike because they are more than just a transaction for you. Hence, avoid treating them as such. Treat them as a partner that you are going to work with for a very long time. Treat them like how you treat valuable people in your personal life. It is important to build strong and meaningful relationships with them that is based on trust and respect.
The importance of meaningful relationships with prospects and clients
To build meaningful relationship is not easy because it requires time and effort. It doesn’t happen overnight and you need to show your best efforts. Not to mention that after building relationships both with clients and prospects, you need to nurture it to last long mutually benefit both parties. And here are things you can do to build such meaningful relationships with them:
Get better understanding of their needs
You will only be able to speak their language and talk about things that resonate their perspectives if you understand them. Hence, do your research to find out more about your clients and prospects even before you meet them. Stalking in this context does matter to get idea for their pain points. You will also find out what kind of communication style they will likely prefer. This can be your base to start a conversation and implement your approach so you get to make good first impression.
Treat them like a partner
As mentioned earlier that it is bad to treat your prospects and clients like they are just transaction for you to generate more cash. They are real human beings who have their own preferences, needs, and their own minds. Hence, treat them like how you treat a business partner. Listen to their input and experiences. It will be very valuable for the improvements of your projects. Make them involve in your project so they can speak freely about their opinion. It can help add value to the relationship itself.
Reach out
Do not hesitate to be more proactive with your prospects and clients. It is often that clients wait for your project to know how it is going. They even wait for you to reach them out and ask for their reviews or opinions. They want the project to work because they are involved and the outcomes must going in desired direction. Instead of letting them wait, be more proactive and reach them out by providing updates. You can also do it by checking in them on regular basis where they get to ask questions.
Do not over-promise and under-deliver
It is better to under-promise and over-deliver instead of the otherwise. When you keep promising things you cannot keep to your clients or prospects, their expectations will be going too high that it becomes impossible for you to fulfill. Hence, make sure to deliver what you promise. This way, you meet their expectations and they will see you as competent and honest business partner.
