3 ways to make sure your clients love you tomorrow

Listen up. You don’t want to be a one-project stand. You have to take certain steps to make sure your clients will love you tomorrow. So pay attention and put these to work now.

• Go over and beyond what they expect: Meeting client expectations is a big so-what. Maybe that was good enough once upon a time, and maybe it is still good enough if you have absolutely no competition (and who occupies that rarified space), but for the rest of us, exceeding client expectations is the best way to ensure you will retain your client’s business for the long haul.
• Don’t nickel and dime them to death: I loathe getting invoices that have all sorts of add-ons tacked on, almost as an afterthought. It’s better to take the high road and absorb some of those fees, or perhaps add them into the base price or hourly rate, rather than risk leaving a bad impression.
• Be proactive: We keep hearing clients are no longer loyal; they’ll change “vendors” to save miniscule amounts of money. The solution? Don’t be a vendor. Vendors can be easily disposed of but business resources, well, not so easily. And what make a business resource valuable? Being ahead of the challenge and being ready with a solution or options.

So there you have it. Simple ways for you to avoid being part of a bad break-up. Will your clients still love you tomorrow?

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