The presence of a global pandemic is bound to change the norms of a typical day-to-day; people are staying home, not going to work, unable to go visit friends and family, etc. The effect of COVID has forced individuals to be creative and patient when it comes to connecting and socializing with others because after all, humans need human connection. Jobs were greatly impacted at the beginning of all of this and are still having to make adjustments along the way to ensure that business continues as needed. When it comes to client relationships in any industry, there was a shift in the communication style necessary to have a functioning relationship. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how to nurture these relationships in new ways in order to continue producing great results for your clients as well as providing appropriate and strong customer service.
Upon arriving back to work, whether that be remote or back in the office, employers should be prioritizing their employees understanding of this new norm of client relationships so that everyone is on the same page. Communicating with clients is requiring a little more creativity and innovation than usual, but also more opportunity to showcase strong and thriving customer service in a time of adversity. It can be beneficial to encourage new ideas in all aspects of your company that could increase the ability to provide not only a product but a service to potential or current clients.
It can be a common practice to do social setting gatherings to build strong, well-rounded professional relationships. Unfortunately, even as restaurants and restaurant bars gradually re-open, it can be a very nerve racking setting for a client with the new protocols and general fears of personal health safety to enter these settings solely to conduct business over drinks. This being a classic and vastly used tactic, it can be hard to replace this interaction with a zoom call in your living room overnight with the same expected affect. There are some ways to initiate similar interactions while making your client feel like their safety and time was considered. If there is a big zoom meeting scheduled in place of a lunch-in, it could make a big statement by sending money their way via a digital gift card, Venmo, or other preferred forms of virtual payment. A simple gesture to enforce a parallel social setting can make not only the client feel more comfortable and prioritized, but will cause the meeting to have a certain level of comfort and ease for both you and the client. If the client has expressed a level of importance in the face-to-face meeting style for your transaction, it is imperative that you reciprocate that intention and construct a way for a safe and productive meeting. An outdoor area with a table or appropriate seating selection could be all you need. With a location like this, it can then be made much easier to order food, have it delivered and provide that option for the appointment. This shows preparedness and thorough execution.
While increasing social media activity, enhancing the level and context of emails, and enforcing a productive amount of meetings via video chat or zoom can all be easy and instantaneous ways to better connect with clients, it is not always enough. Human and social interaction still carry a lot of weight in curating relationships of all kinds, even strictly professional ones. The more this form of connectivity between you and your clients — new or old — is prioritized across all forms, it will not only ensure the growth of clientele in itself, but will speak loudly for the company’s level of social concern, awareness, innovation, and a personable identity.
___________________________________________ Daniel James Consulting is a Full-Service Business Consulting Firm based in New York that designs solutions tailored specifically to the needs of your business in order to ensure you achieve continued success by designing, developing and implementing plans, metrics and platforms, be it a one-man operation, non-profit, startup or large organization. Our packaged solutions or a la carte selections include Website Design, Marketing & Advertising, Search Engine Positioning, and Graphic Design. Business Management Solutions are also available for companies of all sizes. For more information please visit: www.danieljamesconsulting.com