As the New Year approaches, you may be thinking about how you can expand your home-based business’s client base in 2011. Chances are, as the owner and operator of a small, home-based business, you do not have a large advertising budget. That’s okay, you do not need one. In fact, one of the things that you can do to increase your client base does not cost you anything and will improve the way that you do business overall.
Building and maintaining excellent relationships with your existing clients will help you to increase your client base. You are probably already dedicated to delivering a high level of customer service. If you weren’t, you would probably have gone out of business already. As dedicated as you are, it is always worth taking the time to make sure that you are doing everything that you possibly can to satisfy your clients.
Things to think about in this area of your business include your system for following up with clients, whether you sometimes provide “something extra” to your clients, and your methods of dealing with problems that arise in the course of your business. If you do these three things well, your clients will feel well taken care of. Happy clients talk, and they will be telling friends and family about the wonderful things that you have done for them. People respond strongly to recommendations made by family or friends, so whomever is hearing about you from one of their friends or a family member will have your name in their memory when the time comes for them to buy the product or use the service that you provide.
It is also important to remember that dissatisfied clients talk too, and they talk loudly to anyone who will listen. By doing your very best to keep all of your clients happy as much of the time as you possibly can, you greatly reduce the risk of negative information being broadcasted to other people by unhappy clients. What can you do to take your client satisfaction rating to an even higher level in 2011?