Referrals are important to your small business. When you make one client happy, they can in turn help you expand your reach to secure more customers. But there’s a catch. In order to turn one happy customer into three, you need to successfully stay in touch with your original client and give them reasons to recommend you and your business.

Here are 3 Do’s and Don’ts When it Comes to Common Tips for Connecting with Clients

Tip 1: Sending Notes

Do – Send emails/notecards for specific occasions. To be exact, you should make notes when working with your client. When is their birthday? When did they purchase their home that you helped them buy? Put these dates in your calendar and set an alert a week in advance. Make sure to send these cards out in addition to any holiday cards. If you are connected on social media, you’ll happen to see a lot of life events occur too (like wedding anniversaries and job changes). Send out a card for these moments and show that you sincerely care about your client even after you’ve closed the deal.
Don’t – Send generic thinking of you notes. Canned messages completely miss the target in building a relationship with current and past clients and can easily be disregarded. With a personalized birthday or holiday card, clients will appreciate your attention to detail and realize you go the extra mile.

Tip 2: Asking for Feedback

Do – Reach out for meaningful feedback and offer incentives. When you want feedback that’s actually useful, it’s important to convey to your past client how much you rely on their input. Offer a small prize in return for a completed survey or write up a personal email letting your client know you valued your time working together and are looking for ways to improve your service. Should your client ever want to do business with you again, you can let them know you’ll be sure to add their improvement suggestions to your daily practices.
Don’t – Send informal surveys with no introduction. If you send past clients an automated survey request with little to no background on why you’re asking their feedback, they likely won’t respond. Or worse, they’ll put in little effort and you’ll be left with data that isn’t very informative or helpful.

Tip 3: Connecting on Social Media.

Do – Follow and befriend your clients. Connecting on social media gives your clients more opportunities to have your business info in front of them. It’ll be harder for a client to forget about you if they regularly see your updates and posts. If your client has a blog, take the time to follow them and leave comments on their articles. They’ll appreciate your engagement and be sure to return the favor on your own blog articles.
Don’t – Overstep your boundaries. Remember that although you may be connected on social media, which is a pretty informal platform, they are still your past client. If you have any hopes of a past client recommending you to a friend or family member, you’ll want to maintain a strong level of professionalism with your client. Keeping a professional image on social media will help clients trust you and be more likely to remember you in the years to come.

Staying in contact with past clients is an important step in growing your network that all small business owners strive to succeed at. Keep these do’s and don’ts in mind to build a strong and lasting relationship with all of your clients.

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