Achieving success in business often comes down to how well you connect with your clients. While there are many tips and strategies for building stronger relationships with your customers, I'll share some that I've seen work wonders over the years.


STEP 1: Make Sure You Know Your Customer

In order to build a solid foundation with your client, you need to know exactly who they are and what their goals are.

To begin, ask yourself questions such as "Why are they looking for my services?" and "What do they need from me?". This can help determine what kind of relationship you should strive to have.

If you don't know much about your client, use a process called discovery to gain a more detailed understanding.

Discovery consists of two parts: gathering information and analyzing the information you've gathered. During discovery, you may want to keep a journal or create a Google document to capture notes on important topics.

After you've gathered as much information as possible, analyze it by answering three questions:

What does your data tell you about the person?

What is their pain?

What is their hope?

The first question in the analysis phase is the most important because it will drive your communication strategy. Your goal here is to answer this question so that your clients understand what you're trying to accomplish for them.

STEP 2: Stay In Touch With Your Client

After you've built the foundation of your relationship with your client, you should make sure to stay in touch.

This means sending monthly or weekly follow-ups with something like a newsletter or an e-mail asking how things are going. Keep in mind that you're more likely to gain new customers if you stay in touch with your existing ones.

Also, take the time to thank your clients for referring you to them.

STEP 3: Build Trust

One of the biggest challenges with establishing a successful relationship is trust. You have to convince your clients that you're someone who can be trusted, and that you're someone who can deliver on their expectations.

While you might be tempted to rush through this phase, make sure you invest in it instead.

Be sure to establish a clear plan for the type of relationship you're looking for with your clients and make sure to communicate that.

Your client should feel confident that you will deliver what they expect, and that you will always try your best to exceed their expectations.

STEP 4: Establish Commitments

Once you've built trust and created a solid foundation for your relationship, your client should feel confident that they are committed to working with you.

To do this, ask for commitments at every stage of the client-customer relationship.

Commitments can come in the form of agreements regarding future business, but can also include other commitments such as social media posts.

STEP 5: Create Value & Consistency

It's important to understand that your goal as a business owner is to build a sustainable business that will keep coming back.