How To Make 99% Of Your Clients Happy

As a service professional, you may have heard the statistic that it’s much easier to keep a current customer than find new ones. After all, the average business loses approximately 50% of its customers every five years. 

So, how do you keep your clients happy and avoid this fate? Although every business is different, there are general rules you can follow to make sure that nearly all your clients are happy with your services and ready to refer you.

Takeaways
1. Prioritize Communication: Regularly communicate with your clients, actively listening to their needs, and keeping them informed about project progress.
2. Set Clear Expectations: From the beginning, establish clear expectations regarding deliverables, timelines, and project scope to avoid misunderstandings later.
3. Deliver Quality Work: Strive to consistently deliver high-quality work that meets or exceeds your clients’ expectations.
4. Be Responsive and Available: Respond promptly to client inquiries and be accessible to address any concerns or queries they may have.
5. Show Appreciation: Express gratitude to your clients for their business, whether through personalized thank-you notes or special offers for loyal customers.
6. Handle Complaints Gracefully: When faced with complaints, handle them professionally, taking the opportunity to resolve issues and turn dissatisfied clients into satisfied ones.
7. Seek Feedback: Regularly seek feedback from your clients to understand their satisfaction levels and identify areas for improvement.
8. Provide Value-Added Services: Offer additional value to your clients by going the extra mile and providing services that exceed their expectations.
9. Build Long-Term Relationships: Focus on building strong, long-term relationships with your clients, fostering trust and loyalty over time.
10. Continuously Improve: Embrace a growth mindset and continually improve your skills and services to stay relevant and valuable to your clients.

Establishing Expectations

Establishing expectations is the most important part of your business. Without it, you’re likely to end up in a situation where both you and your client are unhappy. You want to be clear about what you are doing and what they are paying for so that there is no confusion about expectations.

For this to happen, you must have it in place before any work begins. This agreement should include:

• The scope of work (what will be done)
• The time frame (how long the job will take)
• A list of deliverables (what exactly will be delivered at each stage)

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Giving Yourself A Little Extra Time To Get Something Done

If you don’t give yourself a little extra time to get something done, you can still make 99% of your clients happy. But there are two things that I’ve learned that will help increase this number even more:

Give yourself a buffer. If you have to deliver something by Thursday, but it takes you until Friday afternoon to finish it, that means the client has had to wait an extra day. And they probably won’t be too happy about it. Instead, try giving yourself Monday and Tuesday off so that if your project ends up taking longer than expected, your client will still receive it on Thursday (or whatever day they needed).

Ask for help when needed! There may come a time when one person cannot complete all of their work on such short notice and will need help from others on their team or even outside resources like freelancers who specialize in certain areas (such as web development). The worst thing anyone could do here would be trying to keep everything secret from management because then everyone involved would feel less accountable for what was wrong with the product/service being delivered which isn’t fair at all!

Over-Communicate What’s Going On

If you’re not sure what the client needs, ask.

You should communicate with your clients as often as possible but it’s especially important to over-communicate when you have something new to share. If you need to change something, let them know. 

If you are running late, let them know. And if you’re not sure if something can be done at all, let them know that too! By keeping in touch with clients and constantly communicating about everything that’s going on with their project, they will feel comfortable knowing exactly where things stand in the process of achieving their goals.

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Be Open To Change

You may not be able to please everyone, but you can make the majority of your clients happy. You have to be open to change. You have to be willing to ask for help and feedback from others.

If something isn’t working as it should, don’t be afraid to speak up and say “something needs fixing here!” Or if a client wants something that is outside of the scope of what is normally done in the industry (and this happens more often than you might think), consider giving them what they want it could lead to an increase in referrals or repeat business down the road!

Getting A Client Involved Early In The Process Can Help Eliminate Conflicts Later On

Getting a client involved early in the process can help eliminate conflicts later on. As a freelancer, you might be tempted to skip this step because it’s often more efficient and rewarding to work alone (and by “rewarding,” I mean “easy”). 

This is especially true when you’re working on something that seems like it’ll be simple, but as soon as you start getting into the details, complications arise: your client wants things done differently than how they were originally specified; there are technical issues with their platform or CMS; maybe they need your expertise to fix something broken on their site.

Getting feedback from clients early in the process will help avoid these kinds of issues later on. Clients who have input during each stage of development will have more stake in making sure everything goes smoothly when they launch and even if something does go wrong on launch day (which is always going to happen), they won’t blame themselves for it because technically speaking, they did everything right up until then!

Collaborate With People You Trust

Collaboration is a great way to get things done, make more money, and build trust.

If you’re collaborating with someone that you know and trust, it’s almost impossible to go wrong. You can’t help but feel good about the work that you’re doing together. You’ll have fun working on it and both of your skills will benefit from the collaboration because it will bring out the best in both of you.

Collaborating with people you don’t trust is a different story this kind of collaboration can go well if both parties are professional, but there are so many potential pitfalls along the way (and even more ways for things to go wrong).

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Don’t Be Afraid To Set Boundaries

You have to be willing to set boundaries and stick to them because if you don’t, you’ll end up doing the work of a thousand people. If you say “yes” when a client asks for something that isn’t in your scope of services, then what happens next? You do more work than was originally agreed upon. 

And then they want more! And suddenly…you’ve got yourself into a horrible situation that costs both parties time and money but doesn’t benefit either party at all.

Let’s take this opportunity to review some examples of when it’s okay (and not okay) for clients and freelancers alike to say no:

Saying no (or simply “no”) is okay when someone asks you for something outside the scope of what they’ve hired you for – but telling them why can be helpful! For example: “I’m sorry but I’m not able to handle any last-minute changes outside our contract.

” Or even better: “I understand that this may seem like an inconvenience right now; however there are many reasons why we never add on additional projects or tasks after the initial agreement has been reached.” 

This type of communication shows respect while also helping establish boundaries between individuals involved in any given project or process with one another so everyone knows where their responsibilities lie before beginning work together again on future endeavors together down the road.”

Set A Precedent For Your Relationship From The Start

As a client, the difference between working with a good photographer and a great one is how they set you at ease. The small details are what elevate a photo shoot from being just another job to something special. So it’s important to do everything you can to ensure that your clients walk away feeling positive about their experience, especially if you’re doing business with them again.

Set expectations from the beginning by making sure everyone involved knows exactly what’s expected of them and when things need to be completed this will help avoid confusion down the road, which can lead to unnecessary stress for both parties involved. 

If your client needs more time or resources for their project than originally estimated (and most will), make sure there’s room in those extra hours for this unexpected cost before committing yourself further to the project.

If possible, schedule an after-work meeting so that all questions have been answered and any lingering concerns addressed without disrupting anyone else’s day too much (or yours). 

This allows everyone involved some time between work commitments/commits so they can relax and enjoy themselves while still contributing back towards their respective goals; however many hours per day does not matter as long as everyone feels like they’ve given themselves plenty of rest beforehand so that no one feels overworked at any point during their careers together!

Don’t Be Afraid To Say No (Or Yes!) When You Need To

The best way to satisfy clients is by saying no when you need to. Sometimes they won’t like it, but they will respect your honesty and integrity. You may also find that once they understand your reasoning, they will accept it and even be grateful that you are upfront with them.

On the flip side, don’t be afraid to say yes if it feels right for you as well! I encourage every freelancer out there who has a good feeling about working on something new or different than what they normally do to DO IT!

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Ask For A Reference And Testimonial Before Delivering Final Work

Asking for a reference and testimonial before delivering the final work is the best way to make sure your clients are happy. Because you want a client who is happy, right?

Here’s why:

Credibility is important! The more credible you seem to someone, the more likely they are to trust you and give you their money. If it looks like everyone else loves working with you, then people will assume that you must be good at what you do (which isn’t always true). 

But if there are no testimonials on your website or social media pages or worse yet…there are negative reviews from past customers people will think twice before hiring your services or buying from your business.

Testimonials help get new clients! If potential customers read positive reviews of past jobs on your site they’re much more likely to hire or buy from you because they see that other people have had positive experiences working with/buying from your company in the past and would recommend using it again when needed; 

This gives them confidence in choosing one particular service provider over another. 

Since both sets offer similar products but only one offers great customer experience as well as nice looking content online detailing how awesome this is at doing whatever specific job he specializes in doing professionally each day by day basis 24 hours per week without fail every single day without fail because he’s so dedicated not just doing nothing but instead being able

You Can Use These Tips To Ensure Customer Satisfaction With Your Work Or Service

Be quick to respond. As a client, I know how annoying it can be to wait on hold for a long time or wait for an email response. Make sure you have a dedicated number or email address that clients can use if they need urgent help with something. 

If you’re a freelancer who does all your work through your website, don’t put yourself on vacation mode when you’re out and about you never know when someone might need you!

Use language that’s easy for everyone involved. Write everything in plain English so that everyone understands what’s going on; there’s no point in using business jargon when all it does is confuse people!

Make sure everything is documented in detail. Always spell out any expectations forehand so that both parties are aware of what the project entails and what needs to happen next (i.e., “Once this feature has been implemented, I’ll send over another one.”).

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Conclusion

It’s not rocket science to keep your clients happy. You just have to be an excellent communicator, be willing to go the extra mile and find the right compromise between client needs and the realities of your business. If you want to go above and beyond that, you need to learn how to say no sometimes and set boundaries with unreasonable clients. 

It might seem strange at first or even scary if you’re worried about losing business, but what’s important is being able to say “no” when necessary without being rude or condoning bad behavior from clients if they complain about it. 

The more comfortable you get with doing this, though, the easier it will become as time goes on! And remember: every new client who comes through your door is an opportunity for growth and learning about yourself as well–so don’t let any one person discourage

Further Reading

Customer Happiness: Tips for Creating Delighted Customers Short Description: Learn valuable tips and strategies to create delighted customers and boost customer happiness, leading to improved loyalty and business growth.

Providing Good Customer Service: Key Principles and Best Practices Short Description: Explore the essential principles and best practices for providing good customer service that leaves a lasting positive impression on your clients.

7+1 Steps to Make Your Clients Happy Short Description: Discover a comprehensive guide with seven plus one actionable steps to ensure the happiness and satisfaction of your clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

What If I Don’t Want To Make My Clients Happy?

You don’t have to. But it’s not good for business!

Why Do You Think I Should Care About Making My Clients Happy?

Because they’re the reason you have a business. Without them, there is no business. If they’re not happy, they won’t buy from you or recommend your business to others.

But What If Some Of My Clients Are Just Jerks? Shouldn’t I Just Get Rid Of Them?

Nope! Don’t ever fire a client even if they’re mean to you or treat you badly. They may be difficult, but every customer matters and all of them deserve respect, even if it’s just for their business potential.

How Do I Know If A Project Is A Good Fit For Me?

If you think you can make the client happy, then it’s a good fit. If you’re not sure, ask them! Ask them about their needs and expectations. Ask them how they felt about their previous developers. Ask them what kind of interactions they want with you and your team. 

And don’t be afraid to tell them that you don’t feel like the project is right for you that’s better than agreeing to something that doesn’t work out well.

How Do I Figure Out What My Rate Should Be?

First, set aside your personal feelings (this is hard!) and think about what someone else would pay for this job. What would they pay if they had no idea who was doing it? What would they pay if they did know who was doing it? 

Then take some time to think about how much value your services provide: how long will this client have access to those services? How much time will they save? How much money will they save? How much more productive can their team members be because of what we’re doing for them? The more value we provide, the higher our rates should be.