Impressing your clients should come as naturally as possible, but quite often a few missteps are enough to create obstacles while building that relationship. Definitely, a problem in such an early stage when you should leave a good first impression is very important.
These early stages are similar to what you would imagine a blind date to go like -- anything the client isn’t sold on can immediately turn them off.
But it’s not exactly a minefield either. You just need to focus on getting through the first part with flying colors and everything else is made easier from this point onwards.
With that, the challenge for today is: how to impress customers to secure the sale?
First impressions matter (a lot)
Whatever you can do to leave a good first impression, you should.
This goes for a meeting in person, video call, phone -- you can leave a good impression no matter where the first contact takes place. Other details can help here, like showing professionalism in language and attitude, as well as wearing a uniform when possible.
The presentation goes a long way too. Your contracts ought to have proper formatting, your social media profiles should be easy to find and up-to-date, and so on. A bump in the road is certainly not the end, but you want to make it as easy as possible for clients to fall in love with your brand and trust you as a professional.
Be a good guest
It’s true that your client’s home is where you do most of your work, so it’s common for some pros to feel a bit too comfortable there. Try to remember that you’re in someone’s home, not your personal quarters.
Be polite when entering their home, and ask for explicit permission before entering unrelated rooms or using the bathroom, for example. If you need a glass of water, ask before barging into the kitchen.
Sounds pretty basic, but many pros forget about these manners because they assume that a house is their workplace, and therefore they’re entitled to roam around freely. It is your workplace, but it’s someone else’s home before that, so treat it as best as you can.
Avoid basic mistakes
Among the many basic mistakes, there’s always the classic “leaving stuff for the client to clean”. Whether that’s tools you forgot to store away, debris, or cigarette butts on the lawn, these are clear signs of a careless pro. And because these happen at the very end of the service, it’s enough to leave a sour taste.
Unsurprisingly, this is the cause of many 3 or 4-star ratings that could have been a perfect 5-star. Everything was fine until the very end. And just as a bad ending can ruin a good movie, it works the same way here.
Be agile
There are many ways to speed up time-consuming processes, but the general rule is to be swift on your feet. Try to reach out and reply quickly, as well as provide solutions and answers when prompted.
Nothing kills the start of a good client relationship as taking too long to get the project going. Remember, this isn’t about desperately trying to secure the deal, it’s about showing the client you’re someone who wants to help.
Make yourself available and do your best to get any doubts the client may have out of the way early, as this will pave the way for the project to really start.
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