High-profile clients are a bit like cats: they can give you a lot, but if you upset them, you’ll find them scurrying under the couch and away to find something else to give attention to. So how do you keep high-profile clients happy while also paying attention to your own company needs? Here are some tips on striking the delicate balance so everyone feels fulfilled by the working relationship.
Photo credit: MTAPhotos
Be understanding about their time
High-profile clients are busy clients, and it takes a different mindset to tackle their timing. They may not always respond to emails in a timely manner, but they may expect quick turnaround times from you. Instead of taking this offensively, understand that you are giving them a valuable service, and they have many people to report to on it. In order to save your stake with them, be patient if they don’t always have time for you, but at the same time, make time for them.
If time management and responding in a timely manner is a struggle for you maybe it’s time to invest in a new CRM tool. Time is our most valuable commodity so we have to respect theirs, and make the most of ours. Pepperi offers a sales management system for iPads and mobile devices that provides your sales team with a CRM system along with better communication within the team, and all of your customer analytics imported from SAP. The system makes it easy for you to devote a lot of effort into your client, with out all of the time consumption, they like it because they instantly hear back from you and if they’re making a purchase they can sign and get their confirmation right on the spot.
Let them know they’re special
Now, you don’t need to fall head over heels catering to your client’s every whim and fancy, but you can take small measures to ensure your clients know they are important to you. Nothing says thanks for your business and makes your clients feel special like Master’s Packages or tickets to their favorite sporting event. These are great opportunities to spend extra time bonding with your meaningful clients and forging worthwhile and long lasting relationships. Global Events has been offering top of the line packages for clients for years, they have all of the resources and facilities to make your bonding experience an unforgettable time that you’ll always remember you shared together.
Going the extra mile to help them, emphasizing your attention to having their needs met, and staying up to date on what’s going on with them are all ways to show them that you value their business. There’s nothing worse than offending a high-profile client because you missed an important milestone in their career or life. Keep track of their social media channels and put a Google Alert on their name so you aren’t caught off guard when they are offended that you don’t know about their recent company acquisition or winning basketball game. Additionally, this gives you conversational ground to work off of so you are sure you never get caught up in an awkward silence.
Set limits
High-profile clients can definitely bring a lot of attention and profit to your company, but make sure to set boundaries and put their worth and your work into perspective. If you gain a high-profile client, don’t suddenly throw your other clients on the backburner to cater to their interests. If this is difficult for you a lot of highly productive people use tools to help prioritize their clients and time efficiently.
The new Google Inbox, for example allows you to turn each email into a specific task and prioritize them due to urgency, due date, etc. You’ll be surprised how happy this will keep all of your clients, and you might even find that if you’re managing your time more efficiently you’ll even have more time to spend on yourself. High-profile clients need a certain amount of attention, and they need to know you can deliver this in the long-term without destroying your sanity (or balance at work).
What are some of the effective ways you have found to keep your high-profile clients happy, or, do you have any stories about times when you accidentally upset your high-profile clients? How did you handle it?
