Being in the service industry, like marketing, advertising, graphic design, etc. can be a tough business sometimes. People come to you for a need that is not always tangible and the ability to satisfy their need does not always happen instantaneously nor with the same result every time. For some companies in the service industry, like restaurants, people come to you because their hungry, they order food, you give it to them, and you're both on your way; granted, the satisfaction is still up in the air.
So, how as a company that works in this area, can you make things better for your clients? How can you make sure that you keep your client's happiness your priority instead of just seeing them as a source of money?
One thing you can do is to keep in touch with your clients. We talk to our clients when we have questions for them or they have questions for us; however, do we ever send them emails to see how they're doing and let them know the status of projects without their asking? Chances are, we don't. Now, you don't want to get all lovey-dovey on them and say you love them and their on your mind, that would be creepy. What you can do is like what I said earlier, notify them of statuses without their asking, drop an email saying you wish them a happy holiday (whichever one is coming up), send them a happy birthday email or call, etc. Keep it professional but keep the contact.
Another thing you can do is to ensure the client that you wouldn't advise them to do anything that you wouldn't do if you were in their shoes or if you had to make a similar decision. If the client can't afford something, find a part of your services they can afford and will actually help them. We can't tell clients to spend $10,000 on ads if we know they won't work or if the client only wanted to spend $6,000. They will realize what you're doing and will not like it. As a Chicago marketing company, or whatever city you're in, it's important to have good credibility and an honest word because that's what builds trust, a good reputation, and gets/keeps you business.
It can be tough but it is doable. Seeing or hearing from our clients can and should be a thing that makes us smile; the same concept should apply for our clients.
