The 5 Dos and Don'ts of Keeping Clients Happy

Think of all of your favorite brands that you’d NEVER waiver from.

What retains your loyalty after all this time?

Does their product never fail to deliver?

Has the company ever surprised-and-delighted you? 

Have you gotten help fast when you needed it? 

The brands that are the best at keeping happy, returning customers, are the best at optimizing the client emotional journey.

From their first impression of the company, to purchasing the product, to getting help if something goes wrong, the most successful businesses are investing time and effort every step their customers take.  

Have you ever NOT purchased something after you read the reviews of how awful the customer services was? 

Or spoken to a sales rep that just rubbed you the wrong way, ultimately turning you off as a buyer?  

Your clients aren’t immune to these potential hiccups. But by investing in your client-facing processes NOW, you can save yourself a lot of grief later.  

What is the client emotional journey exactly?

Simply put, it's the series of emotions that a client experiences from the moment they engage with your brand, to making a purchase, and beyond. It's the ups and downs, the twists and turns, and the emotions that drive a client's decisions and actions. 

Take the time to put yourself in your client’s shoes. What does your company mean to them? Oftentimes, its small details that can make a difference. Just look at Steve Jobs for example. He realized that the excitement and joy an Apple customer received when opening their new iPhone significantly dropped off when the device arrived with no battery. Buyers remorse would start to creep in during the 90+ minutes it would take to charge the device. So, he decided to complicate his supply chain processes to deliver devices fully charged. Now, instead of having a 90 minute window to change their mind, they bypass it altogether.  

The dangers of buyer’s remorse

Buyer's remorse is that sinking feeling a customer gets when they realize they may have made a mistake with a purchase they’ve made.  

It can happen anywhere on the client journey, but is most likely to occur in the days following the initial purchase. For example: 

• When they first sees the purchase hit their bank statement (especially if it was a larger purchase).  
• If they experience a hiccup in the delivery process, or perceive they are not receiving adequate customer service.  
• If they receive the product and it does not meet their expectations (maybe it arrived in poor condition, or the product did not match what they perceived from the ad they saw). 
  

To prevent buyer’s remorse from affecting your bottom line, it's crucial that you keep your clients in the loop throughout the entire buying process, from start to finish.  

By providing them with the information and support they need to make an informed decision, you can help mitigate any regrets they may have later on. 

Reducing Buyer’s Remorse  

The more time you spend strategically building an airtight client journey, the less likely buyer’s remorse is to occur.  

Here are some top tips to keeping buyer’s remorse away from your clients: 

• Analyze the communication your clients receive at every point of your sales process. Are there any periods your client doesn’t hear from you at all? Where can you integrate check-in points to proactively address questions or problems?  
• Put yourself in the shoes of your client. Ensure you are not making assumptions about how they feel at any point in the process. Maybe consider sending past clients a customer service survey to receive feedback on how to improve.  
• Stay connected even when the job is done. Send them a celebratory message, ask how the assets are performing. Offer to provide more help. Just because a client isn’t actively spending money with you doesn’t mean you should forget about them. They could have future work, someone to refer, or a positive testimonial to give you.  
• Schedule check-in communications after milestone moments. 24 hours after the purchase, a week after purchase, and 24 hours after delivery are all good times to nurture the client and nip any concerns in the bud.
  
  

Time to level up your client experience

So, how can you cultivate a positive client emotional journey as a marketing agency? Keep your focus to a few key goals:  

1. Be transparent. Clients want to know what's going on, so keep them informed and updated. 
2. Be empathetic. Put yourself in your clients' shoes and try to understand what they're going through. 
3. Be responsive. When clients have questions or concerns, respond promptly and help them find a solution. 
4. Celebrate their successes. Whether it's reaching a new milestone or launching a successful campaign, make sure your clients know you're proud of them and appreciate their business. 

By keeping these tips in mind, you can ensure that your clients have a positive experience with your brand. When that happens, you can count on them to stick around for the long haul. 

So, if you're a marketing agency owner, don't let the emotional journey slip your mind. Prioritize it, and you'll set yourself up for success and happy clients for years to come. 

Why Your Marketing Agency Needs a New Lead Generation Strategy in 2023

If your marketing agency is only as strong as your current client pipeline, what would the prognosis be? 

Do you have a list of promising leads just waiting for space to appear on your calendar? 

Or are you surviving month-to-month, never 100% sure how the things are going to pan out?  

Nothing is worse than the stress of not feeling secure in your business’ financial situation - so why not avoid it altogether?

Your Money-Making Toolbox 

Want to expand your impact in 2023? Your business should be leveaging a combination of inbound and outbound lead generation tools if you want to maximize your agency’s reach and impact. Some of the most effective lead generation tools include: 

• Search engine optimization (SEO) 

• Content marketing 
• Social media advertising  
• Email marketing 
• Webinars 
• LinkedIn Events 

Investing in these tools will allow your agency to expand your reach to more potential customers, engage with them on a deeper level, and ultimately convert them into paying clients. Better yet, you can automate these processes with tools like Zapier to move things along faster. 

Data is King 

To make informed business decisions, your business need to be able to rely on accurate, up-to-date data. You should be investing in tools that can help you collect, manage, and analyze your information accurately. This could include software like: 

• Google Analytics (to quantify the success and impact of ads or website performance).  
• Hubspot or Marketo (to collect marketing data) 
• Salesforce (to keep accurate sales records and gauge sales process effectiveness).  

By using these tools to track your lead generation efforts, you can identify areas for improvement, optimize your approach, and achieve better results.

Weekly Review of Results and KPI's 

Lead generation is a continuous process, and to ensure you're moving in the right direction, you need to be reviewing your results and KPI's on a weekly basis. This means tracking metrics such as: 

• Conversion rates (how often are leads turning into signed deals) 
• Lead-to-customer ratio (how reliable is your sales pipeline?) 

• Cost per lead (otherwise know as the CAC - cost of acquiring customers) 
• Return on investment (ROI) 
• Billed hours per project (to compare productivity) 

By regularly reviewing these metrics, you can identify trends, make data-driven decisions, and continuously improve your lead generation efforts. Remember, numbers are one of the only things in your business you can count on NOT to lie to you.

The Benefits of Investing in Lead Generation

Investing in a strong lead generation strategy brings numerous benefits to your marketing agency, including: 

• Increased reach: By using a combination of inbound and outbound lead generation tools, you'll be able to reach a wider audience and generate more leads. The more potential clients you reach, the more potential revenue you will generate.  
• Improved conversion rates: By analyzing data and continuously making changes to optimize your approach, you'll be able to increase your conversion rates and convert more leads into paying clients. 

• Increased revenue: As your reach and conversion rates grow, so will your revenue. 
• Better return on investment: By tracking metrics such as ROI, you'll be able to see the tangible results of your efforts and make data-driven decisions to maximize your return on investment. 
• Increased competitiveness: In a competitive industry like marketing, it's important to stay ahead of the curve and invest in strategies that will set you apart from your competition. 

Marketing agencies who invest in a strong lead generation strategy in 2023 will be well-positioned for growth and success. By using the right tools, analyzing data, tracking metrics, and continuously optimizing their approach, you’ll be able to reach more clients, convert more leads, and ultimately drive your businesses forward.  

So, what are you waiting for? Get started on your lead generation strategy today!