STANDSTILL agencies often have satisfied clients. They may even have some that are “happy”. But in today’s competitive market, satisfied or even happy clients are often only one step away from taking their business elsewhere. Satisfaction is not the benchmark you should be aiming for if you want to build a successful agency.
STANDOUT agencies have clients who are ADVOCATES of their work. Their clients actively refer them to other people (without them having to ask).
This doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not down to luck. It’s down to a focused and continued investment in making sure their clients are so supportive of what they do they are prepared to promote them to others. If you want client advocacy:
1. Ask yourself – If your clients aren’t currently advocates, why not? Do you know what would make them into raving fans? What is stopping you making this happen?
2. Ask them – Regularly ask your clients for feedback and where you can improve. Make sure a senior member of the agency is involved, not just the day to day team. Do this quarterly.
3. Ask your team – When I ran my agency we had a very simple but powerful client philosophy…”Always deliver, often delight”. Get your team to adopt a similar attitude and level of service. Let them know if you think they are falling short (before your clients do).
Clients are hard to win and hard to keep. Don’t just deliver for them, make them into raving fans and get them delivering for you by referring you to others.
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