Client communication includes all communication between your business and clients. Client communication can take the form of written communication such as emails and invoices, physical communication, and verbal communication such as phone calls.

Communication plays a key role in building and maintaining relationships. Effective client communication involves actively listening to your clients and interpreting their emotions to enable you to take care of their needs. Good communication can help you develop trust with your clients, limit misunderstandings, and lead to greater customer satisfaction. Here are tips to help you improve how you relate with your clients.

Be Transparent

Customers value transparency. No one wishes to lose customers because they gave them access to information that does not portray the right image of their company. Being open about what you do sets you up for success. Be honest about the time it’ll take you to realize your client’s desired results and be straightforward in talking about what you cannot do.

Transparency facilitates trust. Making your customers understand how your business operates and its bottom line can make customers more comfortable to pay for your products or services. Transparency also means being honest about pricing changes, policy changes, or any business developments that are likely to affect your customers.

Transparency can also increase your company's efficiency. Being transparent helps you set realistic expectations with your customers from the start and avoid wasting time making excuses for not achieving goals.

Be Flexible

To create customer retaining communication, you need to have flexible customer experience processes. You can achieve flexibility through implementing adaptable solutions for communication to strengthen relationships between your business and clients.

Your business can demonstrate flexibility by providing accessible means of communication. For instance, if a section of your clients speaks a different language other than your business’s primary language, you may consider hiring a dedicated translator to help you maintain strong business-client relationships.

Your business can also show flexibility by providing different platforms for communication. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions like RingCentral’s VoIP can offer much-needed flexibility. What is RingCentral VoIP? It is a secure and reliable virtual phone service that leverages cloud technologies to help your business achieve desired communication goals.

Be Respectful

No one can copy a strong customer service culture. The foundation to attaining greater customer relationships is respect, and customers want to go where they feel respected and valued. Respect makes it easy to handle unexpected and unpleasant situations and is essential in forming trust.

Customers will show respect when you show respect to them in the first place. Maintaining respect also means appreciating the boundaries. For instance, clients might ask you to stop sending promotional emails or text messages. Acknowledging their requests demonstrates that you care for your clients and have their best interests at heart.

Customer respect is defined by a standard code of conduct and a list of guidelines for how employees and clients will communicate and interact. These guidelines are what create a culture focused on customer service and respect.

Before you can provide excellent external customer service, your employees must first respect one another and the role each plays in contributing to overall productivity. Your team must value treating each other with civility and respect, and once they develop a respectful attitude, they can deliver effective and efficient communication.

Address Errors or Miscommunications

Miscommunication can pose consequences to your business ranging from dissatisfied employees, lost clients, high turnover rates, and missed deadlines. Miscommunication can take different forms. Unclear responsibilities, different communication styles, and time pressures are the top causes of poor communication and can occur with any business.

Communication errors can be a learning opportunity if you approach them well. Decrease miscommunications by speaking clearly and doing away with assumptions. When communicating electronically, be concise, clear, and informative. Always check if your clients understand you and be a good listener.

Ace Communication

Humans communicate all the time. This, however, does not make communication easy. Effective communication can attract and retain the right clients to your business. Client communication is not a fluffy business strategy. Rather, it’s a process that requires careful practice to master. Once you ace your communication, you’ll begin to notice big benefits such as clarified customer expectations, more sales, increased customer loyalty, and increased profitability.