Welcome back, everyone, and Happy Friday! Another week down, Halloween behind us, and eyes on the prize that is Thanksgiving. As we’re gearing up to enter the busiest time of year and holiday season, retaining and strengthening client relationships is more crucial than ever. In the corporate world, and especially in client-facing roles, it’s invaluable to the longevity of business relationships that you express gratitude and treat your clients to thankful activities! If you’re in the market for some ideas to ramp up holiday events, gratitude opportunities, and general relationship management, keep reading here to find out our top strategies…

Retaining Clients through Gratitude…

Expressing ‘Thank You!’ There is no limit on the ‘thanks’ you can offer to clients. Whether you send out an annual or semi-annual note to your customer base, saying thanks every so often and keeping up to date with your client’s success proves crucial to your own. This may mean sending out a short email every so often, but even the smallest efforts have large rewards. For example, are you in the market of recruiting like we are? Did your client (ex: a law firm) reach a new milestone, achieve a new ranking, acquire a new company, experience a merger, or otherwise evolve in a public way? If so, make sure to send a personal note acknowledging and celebrating their success as if it were your own; reaching out and staying top of mind throughout your relationship lifecycle showcases your dedication to maintaining relationships as well as the fact that you are consistently keeping up with their endeavors.
Holiday Cards: If reading the first note made you think ‘Hm, I haven’t sent out an email to a client in a while’, have no fret as another quick and easy way to remind your clients that you’re thinking of them is by wishing them a happy holiday season! Sending company holiday cards not only reaffirms branding and remaining in mind (and even better, with a physical reminder in the form of a true card) but is a personal acknowledgment of another year in the books together. Conducting a quick online search will allow your firm to collect a huge some of addresses to send out well-wishes in a matter of minutes.
Visiting a Client’s Office: While we understand that with the holidays come a plethora of obligations and are endlessly busy, we encourage you to stop by a partner or client’s office if you can find the time. There is something to be said and respected about face-to-face interactions. After all, you never know which small action may land you your next deal or preserve your partnerships! Even if you find yourself too busy to engage in in-person interaction over the holiday season, remember that you can do so all year! It might make even more sense for your organization to schedule client visits during ‘off months’ when business dies down a bit and there is greater capacity to dedicate to relationship management. If this sounds like a more tangible plan for your team, we encourage you to schedule visits on a quarterly basis and in advance so that you can ensure ‘life doesn’t get in the way.’
Events and In-person Gatherings! For industries where this is appropriate and even comes as expected, we encourage you to schedule events where you will have the opportunity to showcase gratitude to clients by treating them to dinner, a sporting event, happy hour, lunch, game night, wine or whiskey tasting, charcuterie board making, observing a parade or city-wide event, attending a festival like the Christkindlmarket, or any other group activity that brings people together. Now that we’ve made it through the last few years that were largely virtual, most corporate employees have warmed back up to the idea of being together in person. Make sure to send out some feelers, and when a client responds with interest, follow up!

Going the extra mile with clients is a sustainable and essential way to maintain relationships and preserve the business you’ve worked hard to accumulate. Remember, the best way to reach a client and show your genuine gratitude is by making a personal effort to remember their successes, achievements, and how they’ve helped you.

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