Closing a sale is usually the end goal, but that’s not where the work stops. Keep that celebratory lunch to about a half-hour so you can get back to the office to tackle a laundry list of tasks that should happen immediately upon landing each new client.
1) Establish Contact With Key Players
Your top priority should be to get a meeting on the books with all of the key members of your client’s organization. Give intros at this meeting, and make sure each person understands his/her responsibilities. Establish a person who will be a consistent point of contact and formally open the lines of communication for dialogue between you and their team members.
2) Develop A Foundation
Early on, I think it’s good to keep this little saying in mind—foundation before creation.
Before you can jump into the thick of things with a client, you have to understand the customer’s target market and goals. You have to have a foundation to build upon before you can even begin to develop a blueprint.
Ben Butler of GuavaBox puts it well when he says, “If you want a healthy client relationship, you have to build a solid foundation starting from day one. Otherwise, you might be fighting an uphill battle from the beginning.”
3) Set Expectations
Is there a gap between your client’s expectations and potential ‘real world’ outcomes?
If so, these need to be addressed so your client’s expectations better align with what is necessary to deliver significant results.
Additionally, many clients will enter a conversation wanting “increased online visibility” or “better brand recognition,” but they have no idea what that’ll actually mean for their business. Quantifying these goals will help everyone get on the same page.
Increasing natural search traffic by 20% is a much clearer expectation than “generating greater search engine visibility.”
These simple tasks will help you start your new client relationship off on the right foot.
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