Forging effective client collaborations

Do you want your marketing business to be the best in the industry? Then it is important that you make an effort to be forging effective client collaborations. This blog post will provide 11 steps that will help create a marketing strategy for your business. You can use this as a guide when trying to build relationships with clients and grow your business and sales. This blog post will cover key factors in how to achieve positive business relationships with your customers, members and other companies and what processes should be used in collaboration to enhance an ideal process of running your business in a positive manner.

Step One: Be responsive to clients

Your business should be available for communication, no matter what time of day it is. Make sure that your phone number and email address are on the website so that potential customers can contact you at any time. You want them to feel comfortable enough with your business that they will come back again in future. A strategic approach to creating a support platform will enhance your relationship with a client further and make a huge difference in the process of partnerships with all parties.

Step Two: Be personable

It might seem like a lot of work to put forth so much effort, but it will pay off in the long run with an effective client collaboration strategy. Don't be afraid to make some jokes and get personal. A little personality goes a long way when forging relationships with potential clients. Showing your human side will help make you stand out against other marketers. Business talk is of course important but knowing when to tone down the relationship and achieve a person to person collaboration is vital for your objectives.

Step Three: Be professional

Marketers should always remain polite, courteous and friendly when speaking with potential clients on the phone or emailing them messages online. You can use your personal touch in these conversations but keep it at a minimum to avoid coming off as unprofessional. Don't forget to follow the golden rule, either: treat others how you would want to be treated. A relationship with customers that allows the customer to connect with you on all levels will be a huge part of how you achieve objectives overall.

Step Four: Be helpful

Helping potential clients is a great way for them to get acquainted with your services and they will most likely come back again in future if they feel that you are available for assistance when needed. Show off some of your best work to potential clients and tell them how you can help them. Most of the time, they are looking for a specific solution so be prepared to offer your expertise in that area.

Step Five: Be creative

It might seem like creativity is wasted on client collaborations but there's plenty of ways to use it when approaching marketing campaigns or other business endeavors. Showing your creative side will help you stand out among other marketers and it can even be used to get customers excited about a new campaign. To forge a relationship with your client built on creativity for example will make the process of providing services a key factor in the success of the overall relationship.

Step Six: Be consistent

When forging relationships with clients, consistency is key in order for them to trust the fact that you are reliable. Make sure that all of your messages are consistent and that your tone remains the same when speaking to potential customers. You want them to know that they can rely on you. For example, business relationships with companies that constantly change the processes or messages to their customer due to lack of organisation (for example) can cause outcomes such as the customer losing trust in the business or doubting the business relationships you have are genuine.

Step Seven: Be organized

Organization is key in any situation, especially client collaborations where there are often a lot of things happening all at once during certain points of the campaign. Keep files organised by date so that you can find them easily when needed. Set up a system to keep track of your emails so that you don't have to worry about forgetting anything important or being disorganized. Make sure data is up to date and shareable at all times. There is huge value in keeping on top of data and projects at all times so you can be successful in offering the most successful service levels to your customers and partners at all times.

Step Eight: Be communicative

Communicating with clients is essential if you want to forge strong client collaborations and ensure they return for more business in the future. Keep them in the loop with every step of your campaign and make sure that they feel included no matter what. They will be more likely to come back if they know you are invested in their success. Collaborative relationships are all about creating a pro active approach with customers and contact a company has with a customer will create successful outcomes for all parties and could increase sales.

Step Nine: Be passionate

When it comes down to it, passion is what makes a great marketer. You need to show clients how much you care about your work and what you do in order to forge a strong client collaboration strategy. If they can tell that you are passionate, then they will be more likely to come back. A relationship with customers that features negativity or an indication of reluctance to assist at any point (maybe you are having a bad day) can put ideas into the customers mind that the company isn't offering the level of benefits they thought. Don't let a bad day for you at the office effect company relationships with its customers.

Step Ten: Be open-minded

When it comes down to the wire when trying to help potential clients with their marketing campaigns, being open-minded can make all the difference. You never know what will work best for them until you try something new and innovative. If they don't seem to be interested in your idea, ask if there's anything else that might help instead of giving up on them right away. It is also important to take onboard customer ideas and opinions where relevant for their projects so as not to assume that they have contacted your company for a relationship and they don't have any ideas of their own. Getting a customer involved in the process of creating objectives and tasks in their project alongside sharing data regularly on the progress of their project will create a world where there is ongoing value for both parties.

Step Eleven: Be flexible with time frames

When it comes down to deadlines for client collaborations, you should always be flexible and willing to work with the potential customer's schedule. You never know when they might want something last minute or need a quick turnaround so it pays off to keep your availability open. Multiple meetings can be arranged at set times still for peace of mind and easier planning but if you manage to install processes within the team that allow them to be more flexible it will have a huge positive effect on the business. Flexibility in collaborative relationships in business has value in that for example your company maybe pitched against another party who is stuck in their ways and will not move timelines, so your flexible approach will result in giving your customer confidence in your commitment to their needs and more business for you and your partners versus another party.

Communicate all of the collaborative relationships resources with management teams and all parties within your business and office so it isn't just you that is effectively developing success with your existing and potential partners and partnerships. If possible have designated team members to manage a relationship with a business partner or customer to ensure consistency in message. Group business meetings with your team (and global team if relevant) and partners within your operations should be held regularly to connect on services provided to the customer and members to support all within the organization in having consistency in these processes at all times.

Strategic use of technology and software within your operations can enhance your communication and commitment to customers and partnerships where for some reason you personally cannot communicate directly, such as the company is closed for a short time or there are technical issues within the business that do not allow normal commitment to communication. There are a lot of management technology systems and software on the market that are available around the world that can deliver data and service when a human is unable to. These management systems should ideally only be used when a human touch is unavailable.

A positive relationship with a client is a companies main goal and you should ensure that teams commitment to deliver effectively in their meetings and collaboration activity will create mutual benefits for both your business, customer and partnerships at all times. The process of success in our world is being able to judge the outcomes of your actions at all times and the effect these will have on relationships with partners, companies, your customer and of course the companies sales.

To summarise the key to a companies business relationship with its client is building a platform of support over multiple resources and communications where you are able to collaborate and connect with your customer at the highest possible level to create relationships with your team that are a success for all involved.