F E AT U R E Seven Ways to Retain Your Most Loyal Construction Clients by Patrick Hogan, Handle.com Finding new clients is essential for growing your construction business. However, expanding your business also means retaining your existing client base. Clients decide to leave and go with another contractor for different reasons. Competition is one of the biggest factors. If a client can avail better service elsewhere for a much lower price, they are more likely to jump ship. It is therefore imperative that you continue to deliver top quality service to your clients while staying in-the-know about what other contractors are doing. Below are seven key strategies that you can use to keep your clients happy and your business thriving.
Offer discounts and rewards to loyal clients. You should provide high quality service and products to all your clients, but you should also pay careful attention to your most loyal customers. Identify who your most loyal and high-value clients are and offer them incentives for their loyalty. Giving out incentives does not only show your clients that you appreciate their loyalty, but it also encourages your newer clients to keep working with you. Consider implementing a client loyalty program. Also make sure that you communicate to your clients about the discounts and other forms of rewards that you offer if they continue doing business with you for a long time.
Communicate with clients regularly. Construction projects are complex, and there are moving pieces that must be coordinated properly from beginning to end. Clients, therefore, appreciate high efficiency and constant communication from their contractors. When you communicate with your clients regularly, they remain in the loop about your progress throughout a project. Note that it is just as important to communicate with your clients via the method that is most convenient to them. For instance, some clients prefer using a centralized project management software to track all updates, while other clients prefer
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emails and text messages to key contacts on top of using a project management software. To retain your best clients, you need to be flexible with your methods of communication.
Respond to customer questions and issues right away. Contractors receive regular messages, requests, and other questions from their clients. When issues arise on site, for example, your clients might want a rundown of all the details, so they stay updated about the progress of the project. When you receive questions from clients, always seek to respond as soon as possible. Implement a process and timeline for responding to client questions. Identify key contact persons who will respond to your clients and establish a rule for when a response must be made from the day you receive the question. Being efficient with how you respond to client questions and requests is a great way to keep your clients satisfied.
Keep your prices at a competitive rate. Being sensitive when pricing your services and products is also important for retaining your best clients. Know how much your competitors are charging for their services, and make sure that your prices are not way too high or way too low with respect to the quality of services that you offer. Your prices may be higher than other companies, but you should be able to sell that to your clients. Make sure that you can explain to your clients what makes you worth the extra money. Your prices may also be lower than the rest of the industry, but this shouldn’t be to the detriment of your cash flow. Client retention strategies are pointless if they are done at the expense of your company’s finances.
Keep your client files organized. Clients appreciate contractors who are organized and efficient. You should therefore maintain an organized catalog of all client
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information, including invoices, schedules, contracts, and all other paperwork related to every client. When your files are organized, you can find the information that you need right away. If there are issues that need to be resolved, for example, the investigation process will go quicker if you know where to look.
Be open to client feedback. Client retention also requires listening to your clients. Make sure that you are open to hearing feedback and comments from your clients, and that you are willing to act on those feedback, if needed. Consider implementing a method for how your clients can provide feedback about your services. You can send out a survey to all your clients, you can set up a review page on your website, or you can hire a third-party provider to manage feedback, including complaints, from your clients.
Vet your clients from the get-go. Not all clients will be a good fit for your business. One of the best strategies for client retention starts at the beginning – you should vet your clients from the get-go to see if they will be a good fit. If a client has a history of being delinquent and has several mechanics liens filed against them, consider carefully how you want to conduct business with them. You may lose some clients along the way, but the key is to keep the ones whose work practices fit well with yours. About the Author Patrick Hogan is the CEO of Handle.com, where they build software that helps contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers with late payments. Handle. com also provides funding for construction businesses in the form of invoice factoring, material supply trade credit, and mechanics lien purchasing.
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