When employees leave; ensure they don’t take clients with them
By Perminus Wainaina
For most businesses in the professional service industry, it is undeniably important to build and maintain good relations with clients. Some businesses may have strong relationships with their clients in entirety but for some, the client relationship may be stronger with a certain employee than with the business. When the latter is the case, then there is cause for concern.
The main question any CEO or business owner should ask themselves is whether there is a possibility of the client breaking ties with your business to possibly follow an employee who leaves the company to a competitor.
This is a common problem that needs addressing in many businesses. Thankfully, there are several means a CEO or business owner can employ to prevent clients from “jumping ship” when their key contacts in the business leave. To ensure your clients stay loyal to your business, you can invest in this four-step approach to building client relationships:
Step One: Building a Personal connection with your clients
Most clients tend to develop a strong particular connection with their primary contact. In most cases, the relationship happens to be with the sales representatives or account managers. Most clients will usually grow to like them and trust them as every good sales person or accounts manager will usually offer customized services based on their profound understanding of the client.
When this is the case, it becomes important for the CEO or business owner to organize account management teams while also ensuring that the CEO or business owner also establishes a personal connection with these clients.
Step Two: Building a Professional connection
To be well-known, liked and trusted as a business is not enough. Currently, clients also need to know that you as a CEO or business owner and your sales teams or account managers are also business professionals in their line of work. Build a professional connection by adding value to every client interaction. Always ask yourself how what you say or do as a business adds value to your client’s current situation.
When the client is clearly able to see professionalism and clear value addition that stands above your competitors in the field then it is highly unlikely that your key clients will follow a departing employee.
Step Three: Building a Company connection
At a higher level, the business has to develop a strong connection with its clients. This will involve building company trust with your clients. How can you do this? The most primary step is to ensure that the client knows who the other people are inside your organization. This includes you as the business owner or CEO.
Additionally, if you have a tech support or customer service team, introduce your team to the clients and ensure they have primary contacts within those groups. Lastly, a connection with the management, directors or the leadership of that organization is also crucial. These key leadership contacts are essential to helping the client feel as if they are being given special attention and, most essentially, help them cultivate loyalty to the company as a whole.
Step Four: Establishing a Client focus group
For your very best customers, consider establishing a client focus group. This provides your customers with a third level of connection within your business by way of developing relationships within your customer base. It will highlight the strong association between the two groups, with your company as the link. The resulting bond will act as an added reinforcement that becomes the best interest of your clients to stay with your business.
By following all the above steps to improve your business connection with your clients, you will be ensuring that they become more acquainted the levels of your company as well as with their fellow clients. Eventually, this will prevent them from pursuing their personal contacts if they depart from your business. This will help you to preserve their loyalty to your business for many years to come.