The easy email clients love you for

Peter Crocker

There’s a simple email you can send to your clients or customers that they are guaranteed to love. If you want your customers to perceive you as switched on, reliable and trustworthy, read on.

In casual promises, we discussed how people are used to business suppliers letting them down. Missed deadlines, project delays, unexpected costs, being late for appointments… they’re all par for the course.

If simply doing what you say you’ll do sets you apart, what if you could take that up a level? Keeping your clients in the loop with regular update emails allows you to do just that. For example:

Dear Jo,
Just a quick update on your [product/service/project].
It’s all coming together well and will be delivered on Tuesday by 5pm as promised.
Kind regards,

Simple as it seems, this proactive action has a big effect on your customers. It reassures those worried about deadlines. It communicates that you’re organised, thorough and focused on their project. It confirms that you’re not rushing it at the last minute. It delivers certainty.

You don’t need to change the way you work, just how often you communicate. Regularly touching base with your clients elevates you from just another supplier to a reliable partner.

When people buy, it’s never just about the products or services. Clients want a supplier that makes their life easy. A supplier that makes them look good in front of their colleagues. One they don’t have to stress about. And many clients, particularly corporates, will pay a premium for that peace of mind.

It’s like they say about getting ahead in the business world: it’s not enough to do a great job, you have to make sure that the boss knows that you’re doing a great job too.

Tell them you’ll do it. Tell them you’re doing it. Tell them you did it.

Guess who they’ll ask to do it again next time? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Finally this week, a huge THANK YOU to all who have completed our survey. We'll be discussing findings and announcing prize winners soon!

Until next time.

Love your work,

Peter Crocker is a director of Flying Solo responsible for the areas of marketing and advertising. He is a business copywriter specialising in websites, videos and marketing communications.

20 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 4 | Next» View all»

And more importantly if you are going to miss a deadline let your client know. A phone call would be more appropriate to ensure they are informed ASAP.
The benefit of a phone call is you can apologise, explain the cause of the delay and work with the client straight away to plan the best outcome.
- Scott http://www.invoiceplace.com Scott Carpenter from Brisbane
Hear hear!! I recently employed the services of a sign writer who has never contacted me to advise of delays in printing and so forth... a one day job has turned into a 3 week circus! I constantly have to chase him - why would I use that company again?? On top of that, what he doesn't realise is that I need a lot more work done after this and he has now missed out on additional income all because he didn't let me know that there are delays... Jeremy from Adelaide
This is something I truly believe in and I am sure it is something that sets us apart from the others in our industry. Keeping your clients in the loop or "out of the dark" is a key aspect to our business and we have incorporated such processes into all of our procedures. Such processes include providing our clients with access to our online project management tools so they can monitor the progress of their project, giving them access to live links so they can see their creative at any time of the day and constantly communicating with them. All these ideas and more play vital roles in not only the success of our business but the peace of mind we provide our clients with each and every one of thier proejcts. It's definitely something more suppliers should be thinking about doing. Jon from Terrigal NSW Australia
"Clients want a supplier that makes their life easy" - SO true! The more I take on the whole responsibility for jobs, the more work I get. Now I tell clients just to send me an email or CD with everything on it and I'll sort through it and figure out what is useful and what will make great articles / books / ecourses etc. Then I give them a time line ... let them know how things are going, as you say ... it's amazing the difference it makes to your business when your clients can trust you to take everything off their hands and come out with a product that exceeds their expectations ... and when you keep them in the loop at all times ... it's not even REALLY about what you are saying ... it's that you're taking the trouble to say it ... which so FEW providers do. Leela. www.leelacosgrove.com Leela Cosgrove from Sydney, Australia
Suppliers, even independent store owners, take so much time to collect contact information from you - and then never use it! This post is so relevant, so easy to implement, but alas how many will actually take action. I did, immediately. Three of my clients got updates and short notes of thanks. Well done. Robert Barnes from Sydney
Very true indeed, we always strive so hard to meet deadlines, that little extra forethought of a customer service email could make all our efforts worthwhile.
I better get onto it straight away!
Wayne. www.threesixtydegrees.com.au Wayne Densley from Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia

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