Getting a project is easier. However, maintaining the business relationship with a client by delivering to their expectations is more challenging. It is the primary responsibility of the client servicing person to maintain good working business relationship with the client and earn their goodwill, respect and trust.
Typically, when a project is awarded, many service providers consider it as a transaction, while only a few consider it as an opportunity to genuinely serve the client and show interest in building long term relationship with the client.
Following are the differences between these 2 orientations towards client relationship – transaction orientation and relationship orientation.
Transactional Orientation |
Relationship Orientation |
This type of orientation follows a template approach and not understand how to resolve issues. It can only handle a set of straight forward issues due to lack of in-depth expertise. | This type of orientation uses their in-depth expertise in order to resolve issues. |
Focuses only on what is agreed and try to quickly do activities that may not help clients to achieve their goals. | Focusing on delivering results – always look for ways to create value addition. |
Not caring for the results. If the results are not achieved as expected, try to find fault with something or someone instead of genuinely trying to achieve them. | |
Take up hundreds of projects and expect some percentage of the clients to continue the relationship. | Focus on a few clients who share similar values and principles and focus on retaining them. |
Consider that the job is done, once the project gets awarded; and will shift their focus to get new clients. | Once the project is awarded, in this orientation, there is a long way to go as they are yet to earn a good relationship with the client. |
The intensity while executing the project may not be the same as that of the interest shown before getting the project awarded. |
Expectations of the client from SEO provider
Typically, while awarding a project, the clients prefer the relationship orientation to transactional orientation from the service provider. The business relationship will go a long way, if the service provider has the commitment to genuinely serve the client by meeting some of their basic expectations:
Regular communication between client servicing person and the client
Regular communication and courtesy is a crucial part of a business relationship. Typically, at the beginning of the project, clients tend to ask many questions and would expect someone to be available to promptly address their queries. It’s the job of the client servicing coordinator to be in regular touch with the clients and address their queries in a timely manner.
Proactively keep the client in the loop
If the reporting date is falling either on weekends or on a holiday, client services coordinator should proactively let the clients know about it; and should plan to send the reports, before the actual day of reporting and not after the day of reporting.
In case, something that was already scheduled and cannot be delivered on a particular reporting date, then the client services coordinator should let the client know in advance or at least inform that some specific aspects couldn’t be done.
Honesty of client servicing person
Clients expect the service providers to be truthful. Typically, when things are not going great, the service providers with the transactional mindset would prefer to hide bad news, with a fear of losing of the client.
However, the client servicing coordinators with relationship orientation proactively reach out to the client and they put the facts in front of the client. At the same time, they will have some alternatives or solutions in place to address a given situation in a better manner, thereby reducing the anxiety of the client.
Avoid unneeded updates
Clients don’t prefer to get unneeded updates or unnecessary messages that would waste their valuable time. Clients have a business to run and they are typically busy. So, if the client servicing coordinators keep sending some unneeded messages, it will distract them from their core business and sometimes these things will become counterproductive and will put the business relationship in a tricky situation.
Presenting issues in easy to follow manner
Clients expect simple and easy to follow reports, updates or any other documents from their SEO Providers. Most service providers overwhelm the client by putting too much information (which in many situations is not necessary) and make it difficult for the client to understand the gist or central idea of the message.
It is the responsibility of the client servicing coordinator to present the reports with bare minimum details in a simple and easy to understand manner.
The long term business relationship between the client and SEO provider are built on mutual trust and transparency. Client servicing in this context plays a key role in strengthening the relationship with the client and eventually gaining the trust of the client.