Notes From a Neuro Nerd: The Science Behind Living Your Best Life

42. Maximizing Client Retention: The Ultimate Guide for Digital Nomads

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In this podcast episode, we're going to talk about how we can keep our clients happy and build long-lasting relationships with them. We believe that building strong connections with our clients is key to our success, and we've learned a few things along the way that we'd like to share with you.

Throughout the episode, we'll share personal stories and experiences about how these strategies have helped (or hindered) the growth of our business. We'll also provide practical strategies for retaining clients. 

We hope that by implementing these strategies, you can build stronger relationships with your clients and turn them into brand ambassadors for your business.

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Austin: Hey, what's up everybody? We are doing a follow up to an episode that we released uh, several weeks ago. We promised everybody that we would be putting this out. So here it is. We are talking all about retaining clients and we thought that this would be a really important topic because a lot of the people that we talked to kind of have one-off services, which is fine. Like you, you provide a service or a product or something for a client once and then they're kind of done. They're not gonna need it again, at least right then in that moment. But it's so much harder to attract a new client than it is to bring somebody back that's already worked with you. It takes less time, less money to retain that client or at least have them come back later down the road than it is to get somebody new. So even if they're just doing something with you once, right now, we're gonna talk about how to create an awesome experience with them so that either later down the road, if they need that service again, they come back to you or they have a strong incentive or strong reason to share you with other people that they might know, other people in their circle who would need your service as well.

Monica: The very core element, like the very basis of retaining clients is to build a strong relationship with them and the developing this personal connection with your clients is super important, especially in today's marketplace where everything is kind of AI generated, super automated and things like that. You don't have a lot of personal interactions with people, so you really want to capitalize on the fact that you are a human being, working with another human being and that's really gonna help you, help you stand out. So a couple of ways you can do that are by staying in touch with your clients regularly, which is really funny because when we first started our business, the advice we always got was like, oh, like don't talk to your clients, don't bother your clients. Don't jump on calls with their clients. Like if they could have the results you offer without interacting with you, they totally would do that.

Monica: Like don't ever like, I don't know, just like try to stay out of their way as much as possible. And so we built our business around that and it honestly, it didn't work super well. So when we pivoted and we started getting on consistent calls with our clients, we started building that relationship. We started like talking them through the process a lot more and just being like open and available to talk to them human to human. Our business improved so much and our client relations improved and every, like, our whole process was just so much easier. Yeah,

Austin: I mean even if that wasn't explicitly what we were told, that's kind of how we understood it or absorbed it and it's taken a lot of work to like work through because that was our foundation of, of our business education. So it's taken a little bit of time and effort to work through that and come up with a better philosophy and a a better approach to it. And it's definitely more relationship based and client based than it was when we started. It's made honestly, it's made a big difference.

Monica: So the next thing you could do is to work on creating a sense of community for your clients. Likely the clients that you're working with are pretty like-minded people. So if you can kind of build a community of current clients and past clients, I mean they're really looking. I mean, again, I can't stress this enough. People are looking to connect with other humans right now. So if you can create a safe space for them to do that, that's really gonna boost your relationship. And then you can show interest in their business and their goals and their personal life. So you know, ask 'em questions like, Hey, how's your business going? How, how are your kids? How did that soccer game go? How did your trip go? The more you get to know them and to think of them as a person rather than someone who's paying you rather than just a money maker, the easier this is gonna be.

Monica: And it's really going to show them that you actually care about them as a person and their success. And then finally, being transparent and honest, good communication. And I can't stress this enough, like this is so important in every aspect of business. If something comes up, if you are throwing up in the toilet, tell them like tell hey, like I am super sick and I can't, yeah, I'm not gonna be able to get my work done today. Instead of just kind of being sleazy and trying to hide the fact that you're sick and, and producing less than ideal work for them. You know, just always be honest and transparent in every aspect of your business with your clients. That

Austin: Actually makes me think of a story I just heard from my mom the other day. She was talking about one of her really good friends, another mom that she's been friends with for decades, like a really long time. And she was telling us a story of the first time that she had met her and it was my oldest sister's birthday party. This other mom's daughter was invited. All the moms are coming at the end of the party to pick them up. And this one mom wasn't coming and she wasn't showing up for a while. And eventually she showed up. I think my mom said like an hour late and she came in and she was super apologetic and she's like, I'm so sorry. Like I'm not this type of person normally, but I fell asleep on the couch and just time slipped by me and it was something really small, but the way my mom says it, that was immediately a connection point to this other mom because she was just really authentic and really real about what ha happened that day.

Austin: Instead of trying to cover it up and come up with excuses and try and explain away why she was late, she just was honest and said, you know what? I fell asleep. I'm really sorry. And so that same philosophy I think came over to business. If you're just honest, like obviously do your best and try not to to oversleep or miss deadlines or whatever, but just be honest and communicate what's going on. And I think a lot of people are going to be much more receptive to that then maybe you initially think it just feels more real and so it's easier to connect with people that way.

Monica: Yeah, I think honestly in the online space, the biggest place that we have problems with this is by fudging how much experience we actually have or like how big our teams are. Like we really wanna seem like a big agency or whatever. People are gonna see, they're gonna feel weird about it, they're gonna realize that that's not quite the case. So make sure you're just, you know, if it's just you, it's just you. That's not a big deal. People are willing to work with solopreneurs all the time, you know, if you have very little experience but you're willing to learn and you're excited about it, then you know, be honest about it and people are gonna be totally okay with it.

Austin: Okay, another great way to retain clients and to create a great experience for them is to offer value added services. So what I mean by that is take a look at your process and try and find areas in your, in your system, in your process where you can offer extra bonuses or additional value to your clients. So for example, maybe you have some exclusive resources that only your clients get that no one else gets. Maybe you've written an e-book or there's some short sort of spreadsheet template or a PDF or maybe a collection of podcast episodes that's on a private feed that you only give to clients. Uh, maybe it's like a special one-on-one consultation package. So those things offered only to clients is really great. But also one thing that Monica and I love to do is to surprise them with bonuses. So things that you don't tell them beforehand that they're gonna get.

Austin: Monica and I loved when we were web designers, we loved giving onboarding and offboarding gifts. We'd actually send a box of little goodies. It was like, I dunno, 20, 30 bucks, but it just meant a lot to get something from us personally. There's a handwritten note, sometimes there's a little candle or maybe a binder or a little, uh, notebook or pens, things like that you could send swag. Um, so that's an example. Another example that I've heard of is if also kind of in the web design branding space, creating an email template, or sorry, an email signature. The client doesn't know that they're gonna get a branded email signature, but at the end of the project that's sent to them. And it's just something, again, like super small, seemingly insignificant, but it just really shows that you care that you're thinking about your clients and that goes a really long way. So fun exclusive resources, fun surprise, bonuses are a great way to add some value.

Monica: Another really good way to offer value after you've built this relationship with your client is to provide suggestions and feedback to improve their business. So especially when you're in a space where you maybe have a little bit more experience in your clients or, um, maybe you just see some outside an outside perspective, you know, this is something obviously Austin and I love talking about people's businesses. We love really diving in and inspiring them and thinking about all the directions they could go that really, really lights us up. And so as web designers, you know, we would build that relationship with our clients and then be like, oh, you know what could really help your website is if you put together a resource tab for your clients, like, this would be really beneficial. Like, here's how we would do it and like, outline it for them. And then we say, Hey, like when you, when you're ready, like you should totally do this. And if you want some help designing it, like come back to us and we'll help you design it. So it's a really good way to encourage them to come back and reuse your services, but also just show them again that you're excited about your business and that you see a lot of potential for them.

Austin: And maybe as you're thinking about ways that their business can be improved or things that they, you know, if you have some ideas of things that they could change or add or things you suggest to them that you don't do yourself, you could always build up a network of other people that you can refer them to. And that's also gonna mean a lot to them if they, if there's something that their business needs and they recognize it, but you can't do it, I would have a list of different service providers that you know personally that you can say, Hey man, like I saw that you needed this in your business. I would love to connect you with my friend John who actually does that. And he does a really good job. I'll connect you with him. I'll send you his email and I'll let you know that he's coming or that you're coming his way. Just knowing that you are thinking about them and that you are gonna make connections for them will also really help.

Monica: And then encourage client feedback. Ask for them to give you suggestions on how you can improve your flow. We have always done this since day one and we've gotten some really, really good insights, things that we never would've thought of from our clients and that really helped us improve our process and continue improving. I mean, I honestly feel like, I think this is something my dad used to say all the time, like, if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards. And so the more you can constantly be refining your client process and showing them that you are actually really dedicated to making the process as easy and seamless as possible for them, the more they're going to trust you and the more they're going to want to continue working with you or refer you out to their friends.

Austin: Okay, our next idea for retaining clients is to provide consistent and high quality work. You should hold your work to a certain standard and be consistent with that. And sometimes, at least in our experience, there are a couple times where you, some jobs maybe feel a little, little bit monotonous. You're doing the same work sometimes for, for clients it can be kind of easy to let your guard down. So just kind of keep that up. Make sure you are always providing high quality work to your standard and meet deadlines. This kind of just is simple integrity, I guess. If you promise or tell your client that you're gonna have something done by a certain day, do everything you can to get it done by that time. And of course, as we said before, life happens, sometimes it doesn't work out that way, in which case again, communicate with them and let them know why. But do everything you can to, to meet deadlines, to follow through on commitments. You tell them you're going to generally just go above and beyond to meet their expectations, deliver on what you promised them or what you tell them you're going to, what the commitment was. But it's always nice just to get a little bit extra things like we've mentioned this before, things your clients don't expect, but not just tangible things, but the overall experience should be better than they ever hoped it would've been.

Monica: Yeah, and it's really important to provide excellent customer service. So make sure that if you have client complaints, you are handling them effectively. This is actually one of my biggest complaints about some of the Facebook groups that I'm on, is that they'll post about their client client complaints and then they'll just like rag on their clients. And if your client has, I mean there are always going to be those really difficult clients who, like you don't need to bend yourself over backwards for these really difficult clients, but if your client has a legitimate complaint, take it seriously. Listen to them, understand where they're coming from, understand why it's a complaint, why it's an issue for them. If you've had clients before, it's not been an issue, try to figure out how maybe you can, you can be more transparent upfront so this isn't an issue in the future. And really show them that you're listening to them and wanting to make it better. And then always be asking yourself, how can I provide exceptional customer service? As an online service provider, what would you want to be getting as the customer? Always put yourself in the customer's shoes and be trying to figure out like, how would I want the service provider that I'm investing with to handle the situation

Austin: When it comes to things like this, like customer service. And when I say the word customer service, I always think of like retail where like all the kind of horror stories of customers getting really upset you. Maybe you'll have a client like that. Maybe you have a client like Monica said, who decides that they don't wanna work with you anymore. And in those moments it's so easy to get defensive because you've poured your heart and soul and blood, sweat, and tears into your business and into your work and making it a great experience. And then for someone to come to you and not like that, or not enjoy it or tell you that they're not having the experience they've wanted or needed, it can, it can be really hurtful. So calling back to this idea of providing consistent work and high quality work that meets your standards. It's not just standards of the tangible assets that you deliver, but also customer experiences that meet your standards of who you are as a person. Being a kind generous person, being an integrist person, being a caring warmhearted person. Whatever character that you decide you want to be, make sure that you are still that person even in the moments where it's hurtful.

Monica: All right, now let's talk about how you can leverage technology to retain your clients. And the easiest way to do that is make sure that you're providing really convenient communication channels. And this is something that you might have to scale back a little bit on because your clients aren't always gonna be as tech savvy as you are, as much as we would like them to be, depending on your niche. Of course, I know for Austin and I like for a while we were trying to get all of our clients on Slack, but then we realized that Slack was a a program that they'd have to download, they'd have to log in, they'd have to figure out the channel, and most of our clients would, you know, maybe struggle through that process and they never use Slack. We realize now that you know, for them it's easier to email for them, it's easier to text us sometimes or it's easier to get on. You know, we found different platforms that was easier for them. So always make sure you're, the way to communicate with you is clear and it's easy.

Austin: I might even suggest having a couple different options. So maybe you have Slack and Voxer and maybe if you're open to texting or if you just wanna keep it on email, have you know, two, three different options. And then let your client know, Hey, we're gonna be communicating throughout our project. Here's a couple different ways that I'm okay communicating what works best for you. And then let them choose. That way it's convenient for them is user friendly, they're familiar with it. You could just also play around with a couple different platforms and find what works best for you. And also, like Monica said, depending on your niche, there might be like one platform might make more sense than another if there's something your clients are already using. So just be aware of what's easiest for your clients, cuz you want to make that process as smooth for them as you can.

Austin: And then as we've talked about making this really personable, there's also ways that you can use technology to automate certain things. For example, Monica and I always have an email go out as soon as somebody sends us a message or an inquiry, just an automated response to let them know that we've received their message and that we're, we're gonna respond to them. And then we always respond later within one or two days with a personalized email responding to whatever they were asking. But it's helpful for them just to know that we are aware that they message us, that we have their message. So that's an example. There's a couple different ways that you can do it, but automating the process just makes it really smooth for your clients. You can make that process really easy, let them know that they are on your mind and it's just a really nice gesture.

Monica: Yeah, automating your processes also helps you be consistent, especially like when you're away from your computer for a little bit. Like at Digital Nomads, we always, you know, will have travel days where we are, you know, more than likely away from our computers as well as maybe personal days and different things like that. So automating parts of your businesses, like a couple of your emails and things like that can really help the process stay consistent for all of your clients, which is really, really important. Finally, something of our last point that we wanna touch on just really briefly is pricing. And we're not gonna go too deep into pricing, but there's a couple of ways that you can be strategic with your pricing to help retain clients and get them to turn around and refer you to other people. And the first one is to offer flexible pricing options. So understand that not everyone is gonna have the money up front. As much as we love painful clients and would prefer for everyone to painful, not everyone's gonna be able to do that. And so by being flexible with your payment plans and different pricing options, it really helps you be more inclusive and aware of those clients' needs.

Austin: Also, you can offer discounts to clients who are going to need repeated services or if they just come back later down the road, someone who you've already worked with, you know, give them a little discount, a certain percentage or a flat rate discount and then have some sort of referral bonus. This has been really powerful and really helpful in our business. The majority of our web design clients came from friends or family of clients that we had already previously worked with. So if you have some sort of referral system, for example, we had a client that we paid a hundred dollars to because they gave us another client, whatever system works best for you. Again, if it's a flat rate, if it's a percentage, if it's maybe credit towards a future service, you know, if they come back to you, anything like that, we definitely recommend setting up some sort of referral program.

Monica: Yeah, that really keeps you top of mind of past clients and it really helps you create brand ambassadors. So everyone you work with will then turn around and help you market your business, which is such an incredible, incredibly powerful way to grow person to person, you know, from trusted referrals. It helps you jump ahead a lot in order to help get the trust from your potential clients as well. So just to recap, in order to help you retain clients and turn them into bright ambassadors to get those referrals you need to work on building strong relationships with them, offering value added services, so always giving more, providing consistency and quality in all of your work that you do, as well as providing exceptional customer service, leveraging technology to make the process as easy and smooth for your clients and making sure that your pricing is conducive to your clients.

Austin: Yeah, so that's what we have for you guys today. Again, this is just incredibly helpful to not have to do as much work to find clients. Monica actually looked it up while we were recording and it's estimated that it cost about five to seven times more to acquire a new client than it does to retain an old one. So hopefully all of these strategies have given you guys some ideas of things that you can implement in your own business, and I guarantee that as you implement these strategies or any others that came to mind that maybe you've brainstormed as you've been listening, as you put them into work in your business, you're gonna notice a big difference in the growth of your business and you're gonna notice how much smoother the process goes with your clients and how much they're going to enjoy working with you.


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Austin Mangelson

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Monica Mangelson

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