Why Client Engagement is the Foundation of Repeat Business

You can’t have a company without customers - at least not for long. Creating and growing personal and emotional connections with your clients is particularly relevant in an industry that is all about building things. The foundation of your successful construction company relies on managing a complex process, improving project execution planning, managing and motivating a broad range of professionals, and focusing on your relationship with clients. Leverage technology to streamline communication and empower companies to deliver better results. Then, maximize these results by focusing on strengthening the customer relationship.

Keeping a client happy means staying engaged with the right number of touchpoints during the project. The customer journey is missing a critical component when a client is not engaged. A disengaged client becomes one who won’t reach out with questions and won’t see you as an influential figure. A disengaged client feels no emotional connection between your company and themself. Gallup notes that companies that engage customers increase financial performance by 147%. Plus, engaged clients are the ones who share their positive experiences with others, leading to word-of-mouth referrals.

“You don’t achieve organic growth through acquisitions or price cutting. You accomplish growth by creating many more fully engaged customers - ‘true believers’ in your business.” –Gallup CEO Jim Clifton

3 Best Practices to Plan a Successful Customer Journey

Put yourself in the place of the customer when thinking about your client’s journey with your company. What are they thinking? How do you want them to feel? What are they hoping to accomplish? Think about your customer journey in a comprehensive manner instead of  a series of individual touchpoints. Considering the complete journey, you’ll have to think about what customers go through at each touchpoint and be able to anticipate their responses. And don’t forget that each stakeholder will have a different response and require different engagement.

1. Determine needs. Usually there is a reason a prospect seeks out your company. This could be because they need you to solve a problem, are frustrated with a company they already work with, or have an external trigger event (such as a new market). Identify this starting point and use it to formulate the unique experience you will deliver to your client.
2. Consider the whole picture. The more ways you can effectively engage with a customer, the better you can gauge satisfaction. Put yourself in your customer's shoes and visualize your relationship from their perspective. Consider how they may want to engage with you. Engagement options include your website, technology, email, mobile, social media, video, phone calls, or emails. Consider a process for proactively keeping clients informed of progress on their project. It is one of the easiest ways to maintain engagement with clients.
3. Get feedback. Be sure to proactively think about all the questions your customers may have or ways that they want to engage with you. Ensure you are thinking holistically about all the possibilities by talking with employees across your organization, from marketing to project managers, and sales to accounting. Instill a corporate culture of every employee’s responsibility in customer engagement and customer experience. Employees must believe the importance of their part in the process.

Gaining new clients is a must for businesses. However, keeping clients engaged is just as important. Remember to consider your clients’ needs as your relationships evolve, think about the whole picture, and proactively look for feedback. Taking these three steps ensures high engagement and keeps clients happy. You’ll be the only call that client makes the next time they have a new project.