Let's talk about client retention

What is the longest duration you have held a client for?

Results is part of the game but what other stuff do you take care of when it comes to retaining clients

Do you have some sort of checklist for no go clients and clients to go with?

I think for the 10 or so clients i've ever had for things, none of them have left. For the longest client it was about 1 year...

It's always good to part ways before the relationship runs its course, and not after.

TheVigilante said:

What is the longest duration you have held a client for?

Results is part of the game but what other stuff do you take care of when it comes to retaining clients

Do you have some sort of checklist for no go clients and clients to go with?

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10 years I did accounting for my uncle and he paid me every year, does it count ?

Willyfish said:

10 years I did accounting for my uncle and he paid me every year, does it count ?

Click to expand...

I want to find myself such an uncle. A few are better)

FiveForwardSlash said:

I want to find myself such an uncle. A few are better)

Click to expand...

I mean, you surely have parents... we can say they were your clients for many years too.

You give them value and joy, and they buy you food and pay for your apartment.

We are all the client of someone and someone's client

Now I go to sleep after these wise words.

Retaining a client is just about 2 things .... 1) Your pricing and 2) The way you treat the client.

I have a couple/bunch of active clients that I´ve had for 8-9 years now, in my Managed WordPress service for around $300/month per client.

as long as i desire..

9 years is the longest of all clients I have acquired. Sadly he passed away last year in an accident. We actually became good friends over these years. I still often open our google chat messages.

Client retention is all about the way you treat your client & his business. People have different nature, so if you can adjust yourself to treat them in a way that builds a bonding of trust. You are most likely to retain them for longer period of time.

10th year this year
Does myself count?
I pay myself to work for myself to do a great job for myself

The longest period I've had a client is probably two years, but it’s not a straight line.

The client would reorder for several months on end, take a few months’ break, and then come back.

Sometimes, the volume will be higher; in many cases, it’s slightly lower.

The great thing about client retention, though, is you already demonstrated to them the quality of your work.

You've also demonstrated the level of customer service that you bring to the table.

Please remember that your cheapest source of new business is your old clients, so take good care of your existing clients.

Sure, they might be ordering $5 or $10, or they order once in a blue moon.

But, if you take good care of them, the order volume may either scale-up, or they will continue to order from you with more regularity.

Client retention really, ultimately, begins with, “How would I like to be treated if I was the client? Do I want to deal with somebody who just sends me an email when something goes horribly wrong? Or do I want to always be kept in the loop?”

What’s tricky about this is there is no “one size fits all” answer.

Some clients are perfectly okay with you just delivering on time with no status updates in between the time they paid and the time they received the delivery.

Others want you to check in regularly.

So it pays to listen to your clients.

In many cases, it makes more sense to just ask them directly or have some sort of onboarding system.

The worst case scenario is when the clients don't ask questions upfront and start bargaining in the middle of the work. You should always get out of contract if you find any red flags before starting the work. The client retention is difficult part as ranking is not in our hands.

Most clients just needs someone they just want to talk to about non job related issues.
Sometimes it can be great to flow with them through this path.
But you must be smart to know when to draw the line.
I have an experience with this.

The oldest client I have (still working with them) had his first order in 2014. Since then we're working on ANY web design request he or a friend of his have. I'm considering him as family at this point lol.

I have more than first started with me a couple of years ago but the above one is the OG.