Building Trust with Clients While Managing Multiple Accounts

Back in 2019, Kris, CEO of Sendoso (one of our partners), flew into Chicago. We grabbed lunch, and I asked what brought him into the city. He said, “I’m just visiting clients to get feedback.” He’d been all over the country doing the same. At the time, Sendoso was a couple of years into scaling, but here was the CEO, personally making the rounds to see how things were going. While this may not be possible or even critical for every organization, getting feedback is. Typically it comes in the form of a generic email form that gets deleted as soon as it’s received. Kris took a different approach to make it personal and real. That stuck with me. I’ve similarly made it a habit to stay close to the people we work with, reaching out one-on-one, asking things like: What’s working for you? What’s not? How can we do better? Sometimes it’s a quick call. Other times, it’s sitting down over coffee or lunch. And I find it significantly more effective. Larger organizations can do the same by breaking it down a bit. Segment your client base and identify high-impact opportunities to connect personally with key accounts. You could also schedule regional meetups or virtual town halls to engage multiple clients at once without losing the personal touch. Clients are much more honest and forthcoming when you take the time to personally ask.

Too many people view client relationships as transactional. You sign a contract. Send the invoice. Close the client. But I’ve realized that the best client relationships are built on genuine personal connections. This means: - Knowing who you're working with - Understanding their days - Empathizing with them Business and life are not mutually exclusive. Asking about a client's family, hobbies, and goals shows that you care for more than just their business. The problem is that most agencies don’t understand that clients can hire anyone to do their work. They chose you. And often, not just to solve a problem. Clients want to work with great people- not just great companies. There are 5 ways that I infuse this ideology into my interactions with our clients: 1. Be yourself. You don’t need to act a certain way just because “that's expected.” Show up with the attributes that make you, you. 2. Address issues head-on with empathy and transparency. When in doubt, I’ve found being overly transparent works better than being guarded. Vulnerability engenders trust. 3. Practice active listening in meetings. Give your full attention, ask thoughtful questions, and mirror back what you hear. Make your clients feel heard and understood. 4. Spend 5 mins at the start of the meeting just chatting. It’s easy and goes a long way. 5. Share relevant articles and books, make introductions—whatever you can do to add value and show you actually care. And when they talk, really listen. Don’t just wait for your turn to speak, Hear what they’re saying. And the irony is that getting personal is how you get profitable with clients. They’ll be more likely to refer business You’ll get grace during the tough moments And they’ll be more likely to stay on longer When building relationships, aim for a trusted advisor, not an order taker.

"Hey Kevin, did you find any new candidates this week? I didn't see any activity..." Nothing is worse as a Recruiter than when your clients have no idea what you're doing and are left wondering or worse are having to reach out to you to find out. This was an email I received from one of my first clients about 5 years ago, and it hit me like a brick. If my clients didn't know what I was doing, how would they understand how good I am and how unique my process is? Which reminds me of a saying my dad says: "𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭." This means process over results. The single best client retention tool I've used as a Recruiter? Activity reports. As a recruiter, I've always believed in the power of transparency and communication when it comes to my clients and candidates. Over the years, I've seen many tools and strategies come and go, but nothing has had the lasting impact of a well-crafted activity report. Why are activity reports so powerful? Clarity and Transparency: They provide clients with a clear view of the work being done on their behalf. No more wondering what's happening behind the scenes. Trust Building: Consistently sharing detailed updates fosters trust and confidence. Clients appreciate knowing exactly where things stand. Feedback Loop: These reports create a structured opportunity for clients to share their thoughts and feedback, ensuring we're always aligned with their needs and in real time! The Results? Multiple Referrals: I've received countless referrals from clients who appreciate the insights these reports provide. Client Retention: Clients often cite these reports as a key reason they continue to work with us. They see the value and dedication in every update. A Personal Touch It's not just about the numbers. It's about the story behind them. Every activity report is an opportunity to show clients how much we care about their success. It opens up a dialogue for real-time feedback. I've never had a client come back to use my services a second time and not reference wanting to ensure that first I was still sending these activity reports and that the cadence was weekly. Yes, I love getting new clients!! LOVE LOVE IT! But I also like keeping my new clients by making them my old clients. So, if you're looking to boost client retention and build stronger relationships, consider making activity reports a part of your routine. It’s a simple step that can lead to significant results. What tools have you found most effective in retaining clients? P.s. why the random photo you ask... testing the algo!

We onboarded 7 Amazon accounts in June & July. 6 are now long term clients.. Here are some top lessons that I've learned over the last 5 years about nailing client retention: 1. Get going with THE work ASAP ⏲️ - First two months is when the client trust is 0 - Slow/shaky performance in this period can hurt - DON'T delay real work for only 'digging out insights' - Start with the most immediate biggest opportunities of improvement - The client needs to see a lot of little positive hints in first two months ↳ Remember, you're buying yourself time & trust to do the bigger time-taking improvement. 2. Draw CLEAR projections early on 📄 - When clients don't know what to expect, they expect too much - They can't know which week/month will be slow if you don't tell them - Underpromise only enough so that the client is still satisfied with it - Set up tougher projections internally and try to overdeliver all the time - Monthly or 10-day breakdowns work the best (add notes) ↳ For example, if the client is told TACOS will go up in July and reset in August, he won't panic when it goes up in July. 3. Be proactive NOT reactive with communication ☢️ - When clients see a decline, they don't investigate external factors - They assume it's because of you - Or they panic that they were not informed - Clients can't be patient with challenges they're kept unaware of - Proactively informing clients > Reactively responding to panic texts ↳ Nothing builds trust stronger than knowing this team is on top of my account. 4. Know the small details better than the client 🔢 - Clients expect you to give their account the attention they can't give - I have seen our clients fire agencies over this EXACTLY - 1 person in the team has to know the account's stats really really well - If the client sees repeatedly he knows more, you're getting replaced 💩 ↳ Question, why would at least 1 person in the team not know the macro & micro details really, really well anyway? 5. Meet the client once every week or two weeks 💻 - You want to know how the client is feeling about recent progress - Address any objections or confusions built out of overthinking - Get them on the same page about any challenging strategies to execute ↳ Clients are much quicker to notice declines vs improvements. Weekly meetings allow you to show what you've been doing for them. A lot of the other stuff is a waste of time. Just aim to make them more money and nail these 5 lessons. That will get you 90% of the results.