How to keep clients coming back: 10 effective strategies

You’ve been a service provider for a while and have landed several (or many) clients. Naturally, you’re wondering how to retain clients for repeat business. Below, I’ll walk you through how to keep clients coming back with 10 effective strategies.

As a business coach for service providers, I often work with people who feel burnt out from marketing their offers to new customers. One of the best solutions is getting previous clients to return for repeat work or keeping existing clients for long-term projects.

What is client retention?

Client retention involves keeping clients on your roster, either for long-term work or having them come back as returning customers. 

Depending on the type of work you do, clients might work with you continuously for long-term projects, like social media management or blogging. If your work is more focused on one-off projects like photography or interior design, client retention means they come back to you when they need your support in the future.

Beyond avoiding the burnout that can occur when you’re spending so much time on marketing, client retention is worthwhile to prioritize because it generally costs less than acquiring new business. It can also lead to referrals, which is one of the best marketing strategies for service providers. (After all, praise from people who’ve worked with you is always more effective than tooting your own horn.)

How to keep clients coming back

A 1% increase in client satisfaction is associated with a 2.37% increase in return on investment (ROI). In other words, slightly improving your clients’ experiences can lead to a higher ROI for your business. 

To retain clients, you want to ensure they enjoy working with you and that you offer an experience worth sticking around for. Let’s explore strategies for making this happen.

1. Adhere to deadlines

Adhering to deadlines is a simple way to stand out as a service provider and make your clients happy. You’d be surprised at how difficult this kind of timely support can be for clients to come by, as many service providers submit or complete work after the deadline.

Of course, life happens, and asking for an extension is sometimes necessary. But it’s important not to make this a habit. However, if you need extra time, be sure to give clients notice of this as soon as possible, and most will understand.

To make it easier for you to adhere to deadlines, give yourself more time on a project than you think you’ll need. For example, if you think it’ll take you two weeks to complete a project, allow for three. 

2. Underpromise and overdeliver

Underpromising and overdelivering is a strategy in business where you offer more than what you commit to, so your client feels highly satisfied with their experience. While this is a great way to keep clients coming back, you don’t want to go overboard because it can create high expectations for future projects and unsustainability for your work.

Practical examples of underpromising and overdelivering include submitting work a day or two early or offering helpful suggestions outside of your project scope. 

Keep in mind that you don’t need to underpromise and overdeliver for all projects, but doing it occasionally can help your client appreciate the work you do for them.

3. Ask for and implement feedback

Asking for feedback helps you understand client needs, make improvements as required and build trust. 

When submitting projects, you can let clients know you’d love to hear their feedback. You might do this casually via email after each project or share a feedback form with them after a large project or a few small projects.

Once you receive feedback, be sure to implement this to show your client you heard them and you care about providing high-quality work that meets their needs.

4. Be proactive

Not only can you be proactive by implementing feedback, but you can also anticipate client needs and make suggestions before a client comes to you. This helps build trust and allows clients to see your value.

A simple way to be proactive is to make suggestions based on their goals. For example, if you’re a website copywriter and notice a design issue while updating your client’s copy, you could share this with them. Or if you’re a coach, you might notice and address challenges your client is experiencing that they may not have mentioned yet.

5. Update and customize offers

One of the best ways to keep an existing client is to update and customize offers. As a service provider, you might successfully complete a project, or a client might outgrow your offers. Updating and customizing your offers can help you retain clients and scale your business.

If you have a client with a specific need your current services don’t meet, you could create an additional offer. Or you might add on to an existing service to offer extra value. Of course, you want to make sure you have the skills to do this, and that it'll be work you’ll enjoy.

6. Continue growing your skills

One of the most effective ways to keep clients coming back is to continue growing your skills. You can do this with or without updating your offers. You might maintain your service(s), but grow your skills so that your client experience and/or results improve.

If you’re a blog writer, you might improve your skill set to write high-quality content that offers even better results for your clients. If you’re a photographer, you can improve your understanding of colour theory and lighting techniques.

As you learn new skills related to your offer(s), let clients know. You could send a quick message, saying something like, “I’ve got some exciting news! I’ve recently learned [new skill], which will let me [benefit for client].” This will keep clients in the loop and give them reason to stay or return.

7. Build strong relationships

It's no secret that humans want to feel connected to each other, but 61% of people say most companies treat them like a number. Connect with your clients by treating them like people. 

To build strong relationships with your clients:

• Engage in professional but genuine communication

• Learn about their goals and challenges

• Practice active listening when communicating with them

• Personalize your interactions

• Stay in touch between projects

8. Show your appreciation

You wouldn't have a business without your clients, so they certainly deserve your appreciation. This can also improve your relationship and help them feel valued. 

You can show clients appreciation by sending personalized thank you notes or emails, featuring them on social media and offering a discount when they send you a referral.

9. Implement a loyalty program

Loyalty programs let you reward clients for working with you long-term or for multiple projects, which incentivizes them to stay or come back. You might implement a loyalty program with a points-based program or with milestone rewards. 

With a points-based program, they can earn points when booking a session, referring a friend and leaving a review. Then, they can use points for discounts, add-ons or exclusive resources.

With milestone rewards, you could offer a free or discounted service after so many sessions or send a gift after working together for a specific amount of time.

10. Offer a unique experience

If you work in a competitive niche, offering a unique experience is crucial. If you can provide them with something your competitors don’t, this gives them reason to continue working with you over another service provider.

To offer a unique experience, you can:

• Choose a specialty: Specialize your service(s) and get really good at it to provide top-tier results.

• Offer a client community: Host a monthly Q&A session or create an online community chat for your clients to participate in.

• Send inspiration emails: Send past and current clients a monthly or quarterly email with inspiration based on their common goals.

• Make special recognitions: Touch base for special occasions like client birthdays and anniversaries for working together

How to keep clients coming back: FAQs

Below, I’ll answer common questions about retaining an existing client or regaining a previous client.

What keeps clients coming back?

About 40% of consumers say they’ll stop buying from a brand after just two bad experiences, so you need to offer a high-quality experience to keep clients coming back. This will look different for every situation, but often includes adhering to deadlines, implementing feedback and building strong relationships.

How can you keep a client who wants to leave?

To keep a client who wants to leave, you must first know why. Are they unhappy with their experience? Do they no longer need your services? Has their budget changed? 

Once you know why they want to leave, try to address the gap if you can and present them with other options. For example, if their budget has changed, you might offer a smaller project scope at a price within their budget. In other cases, if a client wants to leave, it might be the best option for both of you – but you won’t know whether that’s the case until you find out why.

What do you say to a client who is leaving?

If a client contacts you and says they’re leaving, you can acknowledge their message, recap wins you’ve achieved for them or together and ask if there’s anything you can do for them to stay or open the door for more work in the future. 

Your response will vary depending on the type of service you offer. What’s most important is that you’re kind and understanding in your message because they can always come back or refer you to people they know. 

How do you ask a client to come back?

If you have a past client in mind that you’d love to work with again, you can reach out to them to let them know. Here’s an example email you might want to customize and use:

“Hi [client name],

I hope you’re well! It’s been six months since we last worked together to create your suite of customer success stories. [Name something you enjoyed about the project or working with them].

I have some availability and would love to work with you again. I’m curious about what's new in your business lately, and whether it might be time to publish some fresh case studies. What are your thoughts on putting this back on the radar?? Depending on what your current priorities are, I can also help you with [remind them of your other services or new services].

Best,

[your name]”

Get support with client retention

I hope you found this article helpful and have a better understanding of how to keep clients coming back. Client retention is one of the best ways to beat the feast or famine cycle many service providers experience. 

If you’d like help with client retention, I’d love to support you. As a business coach, I can help you improve your client retention strategy with a customized action plan. Feel free to explore my coaching offers or book a free discovery call.