Repeat Business: How to Get Clients to Stick Around

How can you turn current clients into long term ones?

Or, put another way, how can you turn one night stands into lasting relationships?

Important questions, considering that increasing your repeat business by 40 per cent can help you double your income in a year.

Developing long term relationships means adopting an “in it for the long run” attitude. 

That means providing a client with ideas, suggestions and recommendations on future directions the initial project might take.

It means sharing expertise about design trends, what’s hot and what’s not, and what’s in and what’s out. And it means citing design challenges and problems confronting the client that go beyond that initial project.

If you’re not getting enough repeat business and building enough long term relationships, it’s not your clients’ fault.

It’s your fault.

Maybe you’re not fulfilling their needs, and providing adequate customer service.

Maybe you’re not educating them about all of your design services and capabilities.

Maybe you’re not sharing enough of your expertise and insights on how they can make better use of their space.

Maybe you’re not asking enough upselling questions.

As you ponder those issues, ponder this: many clients are as interested in forging lasting partnerships as you are. Perhaps more so.

They’re looking for a design professional they know and trust to handle their future design challenges.  They know it’s less time consuming and expensive to develop a lasting relationship with a single firm.

It’s in their best interest, as well as yours, to develop long term relationships.

Put down those binoculars you use to search for new prospects, and reach for the microscope. Focus on your current clients, and determine ways you can serve them better, and longer.