When you started your own business, no-one told you that you were going to have to be everything at the beginning. You find yourself doing all of the marketing, PR, writing blogs and putting content out into the world. And on top of all of that, you are expected to find and make happy clients! 
I’ve been there. I know how exhausting that can feel. And don’t even get me started about those nightmare clients! Those ones that keep you awake all night and their demands don’t end even after the job is over. There is another way, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. It can even turn nightmare clients into nice ones…well, most of the time!
The podcast
I talk through ways that I have made it work for me and, how many other creatives have managed their clients so that they come back again, and again, to work with you. You can listen to it here:
How to keep them happy
Working with clients is like having a relationship with a difficult friend. You want to make each other happy, but at the start you don’t know enough about each other to know what to offer. We end up promising the world, and then they are disappointed when you don’t deliver it.
There are three easy steps that you can take to make those happy clients right now. The key is not to over complicated it. The steps are designed to work at the beginning, middle and end of the job (or relationship). A bit like dating, you don’t start by asking someone to marry you before you even know their name- it is the same for clients. You need to work out what each other wants before you can work on giving it to each other.
Communication
Communication is the key to any relationship and it is the same with clients. Ask your clients what they expect from you and be clear on whether you can deliver it or not. Make sure you do this before the job begins! We can get excited about working with a new client (especially if they are a dream one that we have been chasing for a while). I have been there myself, when I started out. I used to fall into the trap of promising the earth and then struggling to deliver it in the time or with the budget we had agreed. Don’t let this be you!
It is so much better to under promise what you can do with the time and budget, and then over deliver on those promises. Now that might sound like a weird way to do business, so let’s unpack that for a moment. Think back to a time that you bought something. Did the person over deliver? Was there a money off coupon in the package, for the next time you wanted to buy something from them? Did it make you a happy client?
Small things like money off, or beautiful packaging, can really make a difference to whether that client comes back to buy from you again. It is hard to get new clients. Make sure you value the clients you have right now. Remember to think of ways that you can get them to buy from you again. Upsetting other services at the end of a project is a great way to do this. You might have different packages that you can offer. with different add-ons so that they can pick and choose the services that they want from you.
Keeping in touch
When we finish working with a client we often think that is the end of the job. It is important to make sure that you follow up to check that they are still happy, that no problems have arisen and most importantly, to get a great testimonial from them. Not all testimonials are created equally!
There are a few things that you need to consider before you ask for a testimonial. Think about where you are going to use it. Think about what new clients might want to know. It can be things like how much income you have helped a previous client get by improving their website, or it would be how much weight they have lost after attending your classes, and now they are taking that dream holiday.
Think of the transformations that you have helped your clients achieve, as these will be the things your new clients are coming to you to help them solve.
Above all make sure that you have fun with your clients. You are building a relationship that you are hopefully going to be part of for the long-run.
I have created a worksheet you can download below that talks through some ideas of how to make your clients happy and how to get great testimonials.
Here are some other articles that might help you to get happy clients.
How to up-sell to make more income
Why you need to start with why
How to make sales of your work
If you’ve enjoyed this free content, I’d love to raise my coffee cup to you.