Business

Imaginative Ways to Build and Retain Your Client Base

As a small business owner, you need to make sure you are snapping up all the breaks and chances you get as well as making your own luck. By luck, we mean hard work. You get out what you put in. This is true with anything in life, but even more so when you are running your own business.

If you are putting the hard work in, who is? Winning clients is only part of the job, you need to be doing what you can when you can and going a bit above and beyond to make sure they don’t jump ship to your competitors. Part of this is making sure you do your job well, consistently, another part is to make sure you are catering to even those needs they didn’t realise they had. And another is schmoozing them to make sure they know exactly what they will be missing out on should they move their business elsewhere.

Let’s look at some ways you can entertain your clients in a way that will keep your name on many peoples long after the event is over.

Hire A Yacht!

Nothing quite makes a statement as a yacht does. Hire a yacht for a day or a few hours and get to work selling your company whilst providing the ultimate luxury experience.

Provide food and drinks and make sure you spend enough time with each and every person on board, whether they are potential or existing customers. Give them the hard sell that is delivered in a way they can’t afford to say no to.

Experience Days

Do a bit of digging. Find out exactly what it is they like in their spare time. Then block book an afternoon or a day and take them out. Think sports games, golfing, tennis, or flats fishing

This will show them that you are interested in them and their business. Getting to know them on a personal level will give you a better rapport and put you on an equal footing when it comes to negotiating contracts. Showing them the best of the perks along with the best of you can do for them in business will give your sales pitch that little bit extra that an office meeting just couldn’t.

At-Home Entertainment

Not their home, yours. Invite them to your home to add a more personal touch to your company. Arrange for evening entertainment in the form of a private chef who will mingle with your guests and talk them through the menu. Offer them a dining experience like no other without the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant.

How about hiring a wine consultant? They will talk you and your party through a variety of different wines and the best foods to pair them with. Maybe you will all learn something new!

5* Service

Wine and dine them in your favourite restaurant. If you know the establishment and the owner well (if not make the effort to do this) call in some favours as you host an evening with your clients offering them the very best service, in the best seats along with recommendations from the chef and a personal touch from the owner too – if they’re not one and the same.

Go Above and Beyond

Other little touches such as video pamphlets as opposed to paperwork, that they can take away will make a lasting impression too. As do grand gestures delivered to their offices – those sports tickets we mentioned, don’t email, have them delivered with a care package tailored to their business or family life if you know them personally.

Or take it one step further. Deliver your proposal as a separate engagement altogether and allow them to use the time you had allocated for them to enjoy the experience with their family or friends. Of course, this won’t work for all your clients, but the better you get to know them and their lives outside of the job, the easier it will be to tailor your approach to deliver that winning sell.

Lastly, don’t forget to follow up on leads the next working day. Answer any questions they may have thought of overnight or clarify when the next meeting will be to put any plans into action. Don’t leave things open-ended close up on sales and finalise new plans, packages and prices as soon as possible. Then you can sit back and relax knowing you did all you could and your hard work paid off.

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