If you are planning on making sure that your customer relationships are quality and long-lasting, then you need to make some extra effort to make sure that they are well-established. The best way to do this is to make sure that you have properly onboarded clients and talked to them about their goals for your partnership. This can go a long way when you are planning on developing relationships that continue to stand the test of time.
Here are some ways you can onboard your clients the right way.
Address their concerns
The first thing you’ll want to do during customer onboarding is to talk about any reservations they might have working with you. This can be price, the time frame when you are delivering your product or service, or anything else that might come up when you are chatting about working together. It might help to have a FAQ page that you can direct them to on your website so you can share the worries that other customers might have had in the past.
Be involved in the beginning
Once you are going through the first few steps of the onboarding process, then you are going to want to be present if there are any questions. Make sure to respond promptly to messages or emails and be open to things going wrong. It might take some adjustment for your customers to feel good about how you are going to move forward and it’s important to be flexible during this time and be willing to make certain accommodations for your new customer. This can help to establish trust and help them feel secure in your partnership.
Prepare your team
Your team will likely take over for you at some point when you are working with your customers. You want both of them to feel comfortable with this transition, so it’s important to talk to your employees before the change is made. Talk to them about any concerns the customers had when you initially talked, and make sure to address any questions your employees might have if you are approaching this client relationship differently than ones you might have in the past. Remind them that if they run into any problems that they should make sure to address them as best as they can before reaching out to you.
Follow up
Several times during the onboarding process, you’ll want to check in with both your customers and your employees to make sure everything is going okay. Make sure to ask if they are running into any problems—no matter what they might be. Be prepared that you might not receive a perfect report card from your clients and that there might be some new concerns.
In summary
When done correctly, customer onboarding can be the best way to develop long-term relationships and encourage customers to tell others about your services. It might take a little extra effort, but it’s worth creating a solid foundation in order to have results that pay off years later.
