New Client Relationship Playbook

5 steps to build strong customer connections from the start

Over the years, I’ve discovered some key strategies that have helped me create lasting connections with clients. In this little playbook, I’ll share 5 things I believe to be crucial to build a relationship that can go through rocky times. Let’s dive in!‍

The Power of a Quick Reply

Responding quickly can make a huge difference in client relationships.

I can’t tell you how many people were surprised when they inquired about our services or had a problem, and I replied within the first 10 minutes. About 60% of the time, I received a compliment or a smile, and we immediately had a rapport.

The first 10 minutes are crucial. You don’t need to give the full answer; you don’t need to provide the complete solution. But just acknowledging the receipt of their inquiry and saying that you’re on it is enough to make a huge difference.

Here’s my approach:

• First 10 minutes: Ideal for great leads and your best customers. You’ll impress and earn extra karma points.

• One hour: Maximum for new clients, urgent needs, and problems.

• One day: Maximum for support questions, non-urgent requests, and unqualified prospects.

If it’s longer than that, you’re risking the relationship and the reputation that can come out.

Delivering Early Wins

Providing quick wins is crucial. If you’re providing a service or have a SaaS company, the initial results often take weeks or even months.

You can’t wait that long.

For example, we had a tool that offered pop-ups for lead generation and cart abandonment. Implementation of that was easy, but usually took a long time with IT having other priorities.

Instead of waiting, I offered to prepare the campaigns for them as soon as possible. They were ready to launch the moment IT implemented it.

Instead of waiting for a couple of weeks, within a couple of days, they had beautiful graphics, great copy, and could see a demo of how the campaigns would look. They just needed one little snippet of code to be pasted.

We tried really hard, even for smaller customers, to offer hands-on help because the more you prolong, the less important it becomes. That meant that our conversion rate from trial to customer was around 80%.

The Importance of Personal Onboarding

Personal onboarding is invaluable, especially in the early stages. If you have a small number of customers, then personal onboarding for every single one is the best possible thing to do to build a strong customer base.

ConvertKit is a great example of this. They provided onboarding help for everyone moving away from competitors, especially MailChimp, and manually helped them transfer all the data and do all the setup. Not only did they build brand ambassadors and get new customers, but they also learned a lot about their own product and how to develop it correctly.

• You gain ambassadors, not just clients.

• You get feedback on your product or service.

• You guarantee word-of-mouth.

The Art of Overdelivering

You have to do everything in your power to overdeliver, but this does not mean that you have to make them more money than you promised or make something faster than you promised. You can overdeliver in many different ways.

For us, we helped with implementation, which meant our IT guys spent time away from development, going into our clients’ systems. We also did, as I mentioned before, the designs and copywriting for ad campaigns, even though we were a software platform. But for some customers in some situations, it’s worth it.

So if you can afford it, do it. You’re going to reap rewards later.

• Managing Expectations: Set realistic goals and timelines, even under-promise, and be transparent about potential challenges to create a buffer for exceeding expectations.

• Providing Additional Help: Offer advice or insights in areas related to the project to demonstrate your commitment to their success.

• Speed of Replies: Respond promptly to client inquiries to show that you value their time and prioritize their needs.

• Implementation Help: Provide hands-on assistance with implementation to ensure everything runs smoothly and offer an extra layer of support.

• Personalized Touches: Add personal touches like handwritten notes or remembering important dates to make clients feel valued and appreciated.

• Regular Check-Ins: Proactively check in with clients to see how things are going and if there’s anything more you can do to help.

• Offering Exclusive Insights: Share industry insights, trends, or data to position yourself as a thought leader and valuable resource.

• Soliciting Feedback: Actively seek feedback to understand client needs better and show that their opinions matter.

Mirroring: Building Rapport Through Empathy

Chris Voss, in his book, “Never Split the Difference,” talks about mirroring in a fascinating way in the context of negotiations and persuasion, but I think it’s absolutely crucial in building any relationship with a prospective client.

• Match their attitude.

• Match their communication style.

• Match their body language.

If a customer always sends short emails and is distracted in a meeting that takes more than 10 minutes, you have to respect and match that. I’ve seen people read 30 slides of a presentation to a falling-asleep prospect. Don’t do that!

If they, on the other hand, like an explanation, an example, and have a lot of questions, indulge them and talk about it, go into details.

If they like to make jokes and small talk, do the same. If they like to be formal, respect that.

People like people who are like them, and those small mirrored behaviors are signals to the other person: “Hey, I feel you, I understand you, we are on the same frequency.”

Pro tip: That also works very well with difficult clients. People who are bullies respond to strength.

A client of mine had a customer of great financial value, but also one that did not keep their word and ignored agreements from the contract. My client was faced with a choice: either lose a client that pays a lot but causes a lot of problems, or accept the problems, waste time and health, but keep the money.

They decided they had enough. They sent a very strongly worded email, and guess what? The client apologized, got their act together, and behaved respectfully from then on.

Sometimes building and maintaining a good relationship means not being nice.

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