Small Business Consulting: How to keep and Grow Your Clients

You’re sitting at the dinner table with the owner of the business and celebrating the success on the outcome of your consulting project.

This is a key moment and especially if it’s the first consulting business project you’ve delivered and enjoy the moment because you have deserved it.

But I can tell you that from those glorious first-time moments, there is a huge chance that your client will slowly drift away from you and just because you haven’t thought about the after-sales process.

This used to apply to so many specialist consultants who simply performed their specialist tasks and then walked away into the sunset, leaving what could have been valuable relationships and equally valuable cash sitting on the table.

But some have now wised up, and simply because they have had to, due to the ultra-competitive world we live in and put a lot of focus into the after-sales aspect of their consulting businesses.

Salespeople do better and simply because they are sales-oriented, and it’s been built or driven into their nature.

So, what is needed is the combination of the two…but then many consultants don’t see themselves as salespeople.

And they don’t need to!

Use the “human factor” and make sure you remain connected to your client simply on the basis that you are people.

You have built a relationship with your customer to get to the point of making a sale and unless this was an emergency situation, such as needing a tradesman quickly, then you will have a journey to the point of where you are.

That journey is the key.

It gives you a talking point with your client that will stay with both of you for the rest of your lives…and I am not being dramatic here, just pointing out the facts.

When you meet up with old work colleagues or school friends, you will always talk about the old times…and it is exactly the same in business.

The simplest means of doing this is to keep in touch…and please ditch the email and text!

It is not hard to pick up the phone and make a call…it would be even better if you could visit the person and have a quick chat.

According to top business coach and entrepreneur, Neil Franklin, “The power of human to human connection is in danger of being lost in today’s high-tech digital entrepreneurs world, but there is nothing better when it comes down to building a real relationship.”

The last part of this is that you don’t have to sell your own services to maintain a relationship.

You have worked hard to build trust with your client and if you build a strong and trusting relationship, then there is a good chance they will share other problems with you and when you provide a solution for them, it only works in your favor.

But…be careful when it comes down to you being rewarded for recommending others.

It can backfire and if you do so, make sure you fully disclose the nature of the relationship.