The Importance of Client Relations

The single most important part of any service-based business is client relations. Don't believe me? Gartner predicts Customer Relationship Management (CRM) increasing to a 36.5 billion dollar worldwide market by 2017.

My career started in a customer service department, and I have applied the skills I learned there to every other position in my career. It was in that job I learned that client relations is much more than “the customer is always right,” and it often requires quality communication with a generous dose of finesse.

In the years since, I have seen more business relationships crash and burn because of poor communication than anything else. One relationship was ruined by an unexpected $500 over-service charge. Rather than having the presidents of the companies speak on the phone to sort out the miscommunication, emails went back and forth between account managers for weeks until there was a bad taste in the mouths of all parties involved. Eventually business decisions were made based on emotions instead of rational thinking, and the two companies parted ways on terrible terms.

There is something to be said for letting account managers manage their accounts and handle their clients. But there comes a point when emails are not appropriate, phone calls aren’t enough, and the decision makers need to get involved. When an agency president won’t drive two hours to meet face-to-face with an unhappy client, it’s bad business.

Among the many driving forces behind lacking communication, money stands out. Secrecy, misinformation and overcharging have contributed to the majority of instances where companies allowed bad communication to sink business relationships. Is gaining $500 now worth the potential of earning $5,000 later? I would argue no.

In B2B and B2C marketing there is an expectation of legitimacy that is difficult to rebuild once it’s been proven false. My goal is to operate on the foundation that my clients value my work and are willing to compensate me appropriately. I also allot my clients’ budgets as if they were my own. It’s no secret that there are elaborate parts of marketing that aren’t as functional as they are flashy. With limited budgets, I council my clients on the must-haves and make sure to allocate my time to the action items that will have the biggest ROI. Increasing a client’s revenue is the fastest way to increase my own budget.

Avoiding Project Apocalypse

Seth Godin's blog post today, The three toxic stooges of the project apocalypse, really resonated with me.  Seth names the three components that contribute to project failure: over promising, under sharing and lack of polish.

I cannot agree more with the first two components: over promising and under sharing or lack of communication are fatal to projects.

In my experience, people who excel at managing expectations and have strong communication skills tend to be good project managers because they minimize the chance for disappointment.

In my own career I have often been faced with the unpleasant task of bringing a team - or my boss - back to reality.  This is probably partly because I have been a part of companies that aren't well versed in digital and social media marketing, and so the constraining resources are less obvious to those around me.

It comes back to under promising and over delivering, which is an easy way to manage expectations.  When you under promise just a bit and communicate clearly what your objectives are, your clients are more likely to have realistic expectations for their project.  It also gives you just a bit of wiggle room to impress your clients, which tends to make them happy.  And happy clients are usual return customers who are more likely to refer you new business.

Social Media and Customer Service

Social Media opens up a lot of doors for feedback - feedback from clients, competitors, vendors and just about anybody using the same social media platform you are.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't embrace social media as a great marketing tool, but it does mean you need to include customer service in your strategy.  

Most unhappy clients want the same things:

• To feel listened to
• To be acknowledged
• To be responded to in a timely manner

Social media is a great tool for appeasing unhappy customers.  Brands recognize the complaint in a public forum, responses happen in real-time and customer service representatives can move off-channel to address the concerns personally and privately.

There is no way to avoid feedback on your social media channels, so prepare your team to handle responses as quickly and professionally as possible.  Everyone who is involved with your social media plan should be trained in crisis communications so they understand how issues should be handled and what the brand's stance is on various potential situations.