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How to turn a one time client into a returning client



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How to turn a one time client into a returning client

Working online for the past 15+ years has taught me a lot when it comes to client relations. I've had clients from all over the spectrum from the good, the bad and the overly expecting lol. I've learned how to treat clients in a way so they are more willing to stick with me over the years so we both make more money. If your client isn't making money from your services, why are they even working with you in the first place? To help them make more money, you need to have your service increase their rankings, bring in leads, lower their CPC in ad campaigns, increase their conversion rates, increase their traffic, lessen their burden so they can focus on other aspects of their own business, and many more things.

There are thousands of service providers out there that can do what you do, so you'll need to stand out in order to keep them coming back month after month. I've recently started up an article writng service for everyone that needs it, here on seocheckout.com and I constantly over deliver well researched content for every single client I've had so far. My content costs a little more than the average writer, but it's much better than most of the work you could purchase from others. I don't spin anything, I research each article if needed, I write more content (word count) than what is purchased and I do all of this because I'm trying to turn every client into a returning buyer. I've already built multiple relationships with website owners searching for high quality content, and it's all because I do everything I can to make sure they love what they are getting. If you're not over delivering, you're not doing it right.


Now how exactly do you turn a one time buyer into a returning client? Well, there are many ways to do this and I will cover the main ones within this discussion for you How to turn a one time client into a returning client


Talk to them like actual people, not check books
People want to see that you're an actual person they are talking to, not a robot. I'm not talking about an actual robot that has automated responses, I'm also talking about a human robot that sounds like they are reading off of a script each time they are talking over the phone or through an email.

Be genuine with your clients and they will respect you more. If you think that there will be a delay later on during the work period, let your client know that. I usually let my clients know if there might be a delay, and I do it a week ahead of time so they aren't surprised if it does happen. I try to do everything I can in order to not have a delay, so when the time comes that I say there might be one and there isn't, my clients know I'm doing everything I can to not push back the deadlines I set. This increases trust because they know you're doing everything you can in order to get the job done for them. This will ensure that you get some people coming back time and time again for your services How to turn a one time client into a returning client


Always over deliver
This is the main thing you can do as a service provider is you want to turn one time clients into returning buyers. I've over delivered everything that I've ever done for a client and it works very well at turning them into returning buyers. When I started my article writing service I knew that I was going to over deliver everything before I ever submitted my service on seocheckout. My lowest word count article for purchase is 500 but I knew that I wasn't going to deliver anything under 750 because even though it's only an additional 250 words per article, it means a lot to first time buyers.

You can over deliver on most services, digital and physical, because there's always something extra you can do. If you're an article writer like myself, write more content for your clients. If you're an SEO service provider, throw in some additional links that aren't in the service description. If you own a tire service center and someone purchases 4 tires from you and has you install them, throw in a free rotation service to save them money.

Giving away something that doesn't cost you much will show that you have your clients best interests in mind, and they will keep coming back.


Give them a returning discount
When you're running a physical or digital service that is a one off service, you can still get people coming back time and time again by offering some sort of discount code. Let's say you have a web design service and someone says they have 3 sites they need designed, you can have them pay full price for the first site, 15% off the second design and 25% off the 3rd design if you want.

The same goes for physical services like if you were selling clothing. Obviously the discounts would be slightly different because your profits per sale would be less compared to a digital service which only involves your time and knowledge, but it still works. You can offer clients a BOGO deal or give them some sort of frequent buyers card where they get a stamp for each purchase. After they get enough stamps, they get a free item or a large percentage off of their entire order.

People love discounts and if you offer them the right way you will notice a lot of returning clients How to turn a one time client into a returning client


Offer them some free services
When it comes to freebies, new clients will love hearing "We can give you an additional service at no extra charge so you see better results within the rankings" or "We can give you a free tire rotation with every purchase of 4 tires". It works with every type of service out there as long as you're giving away something that they will like but doesn't cost you too much money.

You'll want to give away something that doesn't break the bank because you will still want to profit from every client. Giving away too much in the beginning will make them think that you're always going to do this for them, so try to limit it in the beginning.

The bigger the item or service, the more you can give away for free. For some of my bigger SEO and Content clients I will give away something equivalent to half the price of what they are purchasing. I can do this because it costs me only a little bit of money sometimes and all I have to invest after that is my time. For physical services it will be a little trickier to offer up some free services or products because you need to give something away that the client will like, but you can't give away your premium stuff.

If you can figure out a good freebie to give away to your clients, you will see them coming back time and time again How to turn a one time client into a returning client


Offer them a percentage off for each referral
By offering you clients a referral bonus or discount you will not only be giving them money off their services, you will be creating buzz about your services because you now have people trying to refer friends, family and colleagues in order to get a percentage off.

You can tell your clients that you will give them 20% off their services for each client they refer or you can give them 20% commissions from any sale they refer. You can even do both, give them 20% off for each client they refer and then give them a 20% commission after they are already getting their own services for free How to turn a one time client into a returning client

Now this only works if you've done the other things I've mentioned in order to turn your one time clients into returning clients because no one will want to be pitched a sort of affiliate system after their first purchase lol. Offer this to clients who have purchased at least twice because you know they like your services and may be willing to spread a good word about you How to turn a one time client into a returning client



In Conclusion:
Over delivering for your clients, offering good discounts for returning clients, giving away freebies and referral commissions/discounts will all help you in building your client list. Some people will latch on to one or two of these tricks, and that's perfectly fine because not everyone can do all of these for their clients. Pick which one works best for you and tweak it to work as best as it can for your company. In a short amount of time you will notice that your clients will be coming back for 2, 3, or even 50 more orders How to turn a one time client into a returning client



Remember to follow me!
https://www.seocheckout.com/user/Razzy


Thanks!

Razzy

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DarthHazard
If you can manage to keep them happy and provide good quality services/products to them then they will definitely become returning clients. If you are not treating them with respect or are not giving them a good enough service/product then they will just go and find someone who can offer that to them. The freelancing industry is extremely competitive at the moment so it is extremely important you try and keep as many customers as you can.



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iamawriter
I was working for a multi national that were selling state of the art products. They hardly advertised but had representatives to visit likely clients giving them leaflets that contained information on the product. They also distributed free samples. The logic was if they liked the product they would get back. The responsibility of the company was to try and improve the quality and reduce the price.

What is important therefore is letting the world know about the products and quality products always sell. Clients will come back.



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DenisP
Samples and trials are definitely an important aspect in securing a purchase from a customer. This is why so many software companies allow you a free trial with their programs rather than making you buy them from the start. If you think of it from the customer's perspective, it is only logical to do this. For example, you have two competing companies trying to sell you similar products. One company simply claims that their product is great, while the other claims it is great and provides a free sample/trial to see for yourself. Most people will probably end up purchasing the product they could test out, because people like to be secure in the fact that they're making a good choice, rather than only finding out once they've forked over the money.



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iamawriter
The case in point is JIO who are bending backwards to sell their new Data connection offers. There are rumours that their product is after all not what they keep singing about. They are attempting to trap clients into buying their product but I am sure they will not come back.



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DenisP
Scammers and businesses who claim to be providing one thing yet offering something completely different are quite foolish, in my opinion. I don't understand how they do not realize that once word gets out that they are tricking people, they are not only going to lose current clients but all potential ones.

I live in a small farming community so I have a specific example of this kind of behavior. Some merchant farmers have a habit of packing really nice looking vegetables on the interior lining of a bag so that all the nice ones are visible, and then filling the inside with subpar quality vegetables that may not sell well. Once word gets out that they're practicing this, most people turn elsewhere and they lose business.



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Corzhens
As what my college professor in the salesmanship subject said that if the product is good then you have to fight for it in the market. One way of fighting is in distributing samples because that is proof of the quality of the product. Do you know that pharmacies and drug companies distribute samples of their medicines to doctors so that the patients can experience the efficacy of the drug that they are selling.



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DenisP
A lot of good advice has been covered here. Sometimes you have to look at things from the perspective of the client, and think about how you would react if you were buying a product or service from someone. Would you be inclined to return to someone who you feel may have overcharged you and was very cut and dry about the whole experience? Probably not. On the other hand, if someone treats you like a friend, you get more than you bargained for out of the experience, and you give them an incentive to come back to you rather than looking somewhere else, your dedication to them will most likely be reciprocated.



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iamawriter
Any organisation keeps a budget for promotion and does not think of profits at that point in time. A good promotion of a good product clicks in no time. However as I have already said no amount of promotion will help if the product is not good.



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augusta
Well written, I marvel when I see some sellers with disgusting attitude.The forget without a buyer, one can't sell.You treat your buyers as if they're kings and princesses for them to return to buy from you.Throw in some incentives every now and then, make them feel warm and wanted.Entire them little free gift.Basically, it all about being cool with a customer and they'll return.



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overcast
What worked for me is that offering them some incentive with the price. And also letting them understand the type of efforts you are putting in for them. That in itself is more than enough to get the client on recurring basis. That has worked out for me. I am sure you can work with similar type of the clients, and tell them how you can help them for their business. And this can be leading to long term approach for the work. And that's where there are some of the people who are learning as we can speak here. It is not easy to make them long term but we can easily manage them.



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iamawriter
I buy online through Amazon in I have chosen them because of their services. They deliver as promised, take back goods without a question. In fact their guys come and take them and I get refunds quickly.



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overcast
True. Their after sales service is really good. Though we can't offer the same due to being in coding business. But giving people some freebies and reducing their stress definitely helps out. People start to trust the brand more this way. And then you can make profit out of the trust. That's what I have learned as well. I think refunds and returns are good policy from Amazon.



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iamawriter
Even the way their representatives deal with us needs a mention I have never seen them lose their cool. Apologising for inconvenience if any is their way of dealing with their customers so much that sometimes I feel I should not bother them with my complaints. .



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overcast
Yes Amazon pays very good amount of money for the customer service training. And they have trained the people very well. So they never lose the cool. My sister had a good experience with zappos in US. They seem to be allowing the shoes and the sandals return even in damaged condition back. And the customer service is that good. They take care of your issues. So the brand trust is another thing that works out.



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iamawriter
Just yesterday I had a great experience with them. I had ordered for peanut butter which did not match the earlier quality from the same manufacturer. I spoke to them and instantly they arranged for a refund without asking for its return. Food is never replaced nor do we get a refund for it but being an old customer they always oblige me.



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overcast
I had similar experience during the festival season. I ordered LEGO. And the seller said he will ship the product in Nov 3. Which is way far in our case. I am sure that in other sites i'd have to wait. In amazon's case they offered me refund and gave me 1 day delivery for another LEGO toy. So that's something worth relying on.



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iamawriter
I am marveled at how they can differentiate their customers. Surely they will not treat all customers alike. I feel they have a list of good customers and probably we come in that category as I notice just a call and they trust me.



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overcast
Yes I think there are some of the customers who constantly ask for refunds. I am guessing those are treated differently. And we have to check the condition for the services too. They are now only keeping the reliable and storehouse supported sellers. So this way Amazon is capturing more market. So I am sure they will continue to make cusotmer list and treat the prime users and the genuine customers the right way.



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Barida
Using returning discounts have worked perfectly for the firm that I work with at the moment. I mean with, we have been able to held on to most of our clients and they remain happy coming back to do business with our firm.



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overcast
I agree. Discounts can be addictive. People get back to the other sellers who are into active discounts. I have found out that some of the buyers who like discounts. They can end up as recurring too. And that can be good for most of the SEO sellers. Also for the real brick and mortar business too.



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Barida
Yeah, that's how we have kept some of our clients from Richmond firms irrespective of the cost of our products and services.



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Pixie06
Those are some great tips. I strongly believe that providing an exceptional service to customers is what will encourage them to keep coming back to you. We must try our best to understand the needs of our customers and satisfy them without compromising the business. I also provide discount to regular customers as I know that this will encourage them to buy more and they may bring other customers to me. I have not tried the two last tips you suggested and I am not sure how to incorporate them in my business. This is something I will have to think about.



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Authord
Yeah, even in the actual world, that's what most retail and online stores use to get the customers get back and shop again. When your services are exceptional, it has already mapped you off the crowd and you will be left standing out, talk more of when you add discounts to it. Damn, you just won a subscriber to your services.



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wiseagent
Great tips, as usual.

I think the approaching the customers (Talk to them like actual people, not check books) is one of the fundamental factors because when the customers feels special - and not just another number in the company's statistics - they have a real motivations for come back.

Doing a work of excellence and within the deadlines is another extremely important point because this shows the commitment of the company to the need of the clients.



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TheArticulate
This a great point. If your clients can relate to you, that'll make the relationship that much more organic and meaningful during the process, and that's invaluable. I go over what my services include as well as prices when I talk to clients because they need to hear it, but I always make sure to ask questions about them. Where are they from, how did they meet, what they do for a living, where they went to school, etc.

The name of the game for me is to find some common ground between us so we can relate as humans, not just as business owner and client.



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wiseagent
Yeah. How to turn a one time client into a returning client

As much as professional relationships have - by a "nature" imposed by the negotiations - a more formal conduct, I think an approach with the client is something really essential.

Of course, sometimes this can't work with all customers (because not all of them allow an approximation beyond what is expected by them), but the attempt is valid.



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vinaya
Recently, I wrote a 3500-word article for a client. After three days of submission, the client offered me another article writing project. Why did the client choose to work with me again:
The client hired me again because
He was satisfied with my work
I delivered on time
I met his expectations.
In order to turn a one time client into a returning client, you need to remember a couple of things such as you will have to deliver your best work and you have to submit before the deadline. If you want the client to become a long time client, you also need to offer him bonus work as well as discount.



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Barida
Meeting up with deadline is one of the ways that someone that is into business whether online or offline can get to keep a client from coming back. I mean once we remain consistent in the way we run the business, every other thing will fall into place.



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TheArticulate
Being that I work in wedding videography offline, my clients do not tend to be return clients (unless they get divorced and perhaps remarried, which has yet to happen to me). However, what I've found is that by doing the exact same things you've listed in your post, I can turn my clients into people who are willing to promote my business to people that they know. Everyone knows someone who's getting married, and I can't count the number of people who have hired me because their friend or relative recommended my services.



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iamawriter
But they could talk about you to others and when you get orders from their friends or family it is nothing but someone coming back to you. Recommendations are nothing but someone appreciating your work, specially in a situation you are in where the same client cannot come back. May be they will call you to be there while they celebrate their child's christening (lol)



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Heatman
The ability to always deliver even in times of great difficulty makes a client completely loyal to you as he or she is aware that delivering that task took you more than required but you never minded and had it done.

Also, offering free service would have a good influence on one's clients to make them come back for more. Who doesn't really love free stuffs? I bet we all do and as we seek to have more of it, the more we falling deep into preference for the services offered by that particular dealer.



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Barida
In the firm that I work with, there is always that time we offer free services to clients all in a bid to make things work well for both parties.



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Everett
Most of my clients are one-time clients, meaning they will purchase something and then not return to purchase anything else. In my niche it's extremely hard to get returning clients, and most of the time if i do then their website was successful. I do not mind these types of clients, however it would be nice to keep getting some kind of reoccurring payments. This is almost partially why i offer add ons and plugins for some of my scripts - to help get these clients returning to purchase more services. My ultimate goal is to offer a range of scripts to help the average person earn an income online with their own website(s). For me, this seems like fun, and a challenge. So definitely whatever it is you do make sure you have many clients, and if you don't have any clients get some! Facebook marketing is probably your best choice to gain new clients. You can even probably get some free facebook ad vouchers or something. I recently got one for $115... so they are out there. So if you can launch a successful facebook marketing campaign, and get those clients then you would be good to go, rinse and repeat.



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Authord
Over delivering, that;s the best part of it. When you give your best for a job that have been assigned to you by a client and you do it with diligence, and do it well. Trust me the client, won't think of taking the job else where, other than bringing them at your feet, there will even be running after you. I have tried it.



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DarthHazard
It's definitely good but it won't work all the time and it's not the best strategy for the long term either. A lot of clients will appreciate the extra effort but others will expect that as the norm so you will have to do even more to make them happy. That will become a problem in the long term because you don't want to focus on just one customer all the time because that will only result in your other customers getting frustrated and you may end up losing them just because you want to keep one of them happy.



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Authord
Well, it down boils down to the person ion question though, you will have to balance the scenario by yourself, without getting the other parties frustrated, you just need to play your games well, and focus on being the best in what you provide. And how about keeping all of them happy?.



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kgord
I think those are some great tips, and some that can be extrapolated to almost any situation not just online. I think performing the kinds of services that allow clients to remember you and some of the great services they have gotten from you will keep them coming back.



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potentialwriter
A one time client can be turned a returning client considering a number of parameters. People love to be appreciated and they would keep coming back if they are. Sending follow up messages works a lot when it comes to keeping people on business track. Having the clients' contact details and Keeping them up to date on new and existing products can constitute a very strong parameter for making them return back from time to time.



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Judas2018
I have a number of returning clients for my writing services. Because I deliver good work and always deliver on time. Most of the time 24 hours or more prior to the time the project is due to be completed.



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Krisleen
I can relate with "Always over deliver". One of our motivational speakers here once said that you give more than what you are paid for. Let's say your price is $15 but the quality of the work you give your client is worth $30. It's more than the price. I also agree about giving discounts. It gives customers the excitement of coming back. We all know that people love discounts. It's also very enticing that they even bring referrals when you least expect it. The things you have mentioned will really make a very enjoyable memory to clients that they will never forget you. It builds a good relationship, then the money will always follow.



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potentialwriter
When your customers first visit your site, they look out for one thing the most which is the credibility status of your site. Once they can see that your site is highly credible and and can be trusted, they will keep coming back. Another thing you can do to keep clients on track is offering quality and free services. This is what makes your one time clients to become returning clients.



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Corzhens
A first time client should be given a royal treatment. And as much as possible, you try to establish rapport to make that client feel that he is indeed a valued client even if that is the first time he had purchased. There is an online store where we buy special oil for the hair. Whenever we would make an order, the owner would send us a warm greeting and a short spiel, not about the product but about our need for the product. Things like the color of our hair or the habit in combing and shampooing. That short spiel gives me a feeling that it is a personal approach and I truly appreciated it.



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