Speaker 1: Hey, what's up everybody and welcome back to my channel the place to be for new digital advertisers and in today's video I want to talk about how you can manage your client relationships better specifically. I'm talking to agency owners Freelancers consultants and really marketing professionals who are managing client relationships on a day-by-day basis this video the tips that I share are Three tips that have worked best for me to be able to manage and retain clients over the long term but if you happen to not be a marketing professional and you just have some very frustrating experiences with clients, I think there's definitely value that you can take away from this video as well. So without further ado, let's talk about how you can manage your client relationships better so that you can get video testimonials, referrals, and all the other good things that come with happy clients. Let's get right into it. So the first thing that's really helped me when it comes to managing client relationships, And honestly, in my opinion, it's probably one of the most important things and it's the most overlooked things, and that's setting expectations. Expectations kill more client relationships than anything else. It's such a big deal. And in a marketing sense, when it comes to getting you clients, if you're telling your clients that you can get them 100 leads in the first day of their campaign and they're only spending 10 bucks a day or whatever it might be, that's just completely unrealistic. Or what's even worse, that most of us fall victim to, and I'm speaking from experience here, is where you don't get very specific with your clients in terms of the goals that they want to achieve, and you guys are not on the same page. And I learned this lesson the hard way. So for example, if you take on a new client through the discovery process of taking them on and bringing them on board, you ask them, you know, what are you trying to achieve? And they just say, I want more leads, I want more customers, and you leave it there, you're gonna pay the price later on. You really are, and I'm speaking from experience here, because I've literally had clients where they said things to me like that, where they said, I just want more leads, I want more customers, and I just didn't really push to get a specific answer out of them. Even if they had to come up with that answer out of the blue, out of the sky, and they have no historical background for it, I always, always regret not asking them for a specific number. And the reason why is because specifically with this one experience that I'm thinking about, that client just said, I want more leads, more customers, and I literally cut their cost per acquisition by 73% in one week of launching their new campaign, which is insanity. That doesn't happen very often. And I remember getting on the phone with them the next week and they said, hey, Silvio, why aren't the campaigns working? And you can only imagine how shocked I was. I literally cut their costs by 73%. But in their mind, the campaigns weren't working because they had this expectation of getting 100 million customers a week, when in reality, they could only get, let's say, one. So very, very, very important is to set very specific expectations with your clients, specifically around the goals that they wanna achieve working with you, and not only that, the expectations of what you want from them. Remember, this is a two-way relationship, and it's very easy to be shy and scared to talk to your clients and to ask for what you want, but you have to remember, at the end of the day, your clients are the one with the problem, and you are the one with the solution. So they're coming to you because they are the ones in need. So they need to do things your way. Yes, you can meet them halfway, it's a relationship, but don't bend over backwards and get freakin' trampled on and taken advantage of because you're not willing to step up for yourself. So very important, set very, very clear expectations. Don't just settle for more leads and more customers. Get specific and then build a plan around that so you're always optimizing towards that goal. And then the next thing as well is make sure when you bring on the client in terms of expectations, you tell them what you want out of the relationship. For example, all my clients know, all my new clients know, that by them coming on board, I'm gonna ask them for referrals. They know from day one, and I'll say it just like this. I'm like, you know, hey John, I'm here to help make you successful, and in turn, you know, I'd love for you to help make me successful, because your success is my success. So, can we agree that we're gonna help each other both become successful? They, of course, are gonna say, yeah, absolutely, no problem. So John, is it okay if I ask you for referrals from time to time? Yeah, no problem. And is it okay if I ask you for video testimonials if you're happy with the work we do together? Yeah, no problem. Hold on, I'm not scared on video. Hey, no worries, a written testimonial is fine. But you're always gonna set expectations and you're always gonna get clear on what the client wants in terms of goals and specifics, and you're gonna get clear in terms of what you want as the provider of the relationship, so that way there's no tension, There's no like, you know, weird energy around asking for referrals or doing all these things. And I'm not trying to knock you if you're in that position right now. I'm speaking from experience because I was in that position because nobody told me this, right? Like I didn't know that, wait a second, I'm the one in charge here, right? Like I have the power, right? I am providing the solution to the problem. So don't forget that and never give your power. Always, you know, work with your clients, but get clear on the expectations in terms of the work and also what you expect out of the relationship. and that's point number one. The second thing that's really helped me when it comes to managing client relationships better in my experience is communication. When it comes to clients, you have to over-communicate. And specifically what I did to really make sure that I'm over-communicating is two things. And this might be a little bit extreme for some of you, but this is just what I found to work in my experience. And number one is a weekly email. Like every week, Monday, maybe Tuesday morning, depending on what's going on, I'm always sending a client email to all my clients, like a weekly update, like here's how the campaigns are doing, guys, here's how we're doing so far, this is what's happened, et cetera, et cetera. Every single week, I'm sending an email. And it's a very simple email, like this is how much we spent, this is how many leads we got, this is our cost per lead, here's what I'm thinking, here's what I need help with, what do you think, et cetera. It's like a super simple email. And most clients, they'll literally just look at this email and then they'll just respond back, thank you, sounds good. Or they won't even respond at all if they're busy. But just you sending that email every single week, that has helped me in terms of retention with clients so much. You know, think about it yourself too. If you've ever hired a freelancer to do work for you, when the freelancer doesn't message you, doesn't communicate with you, in your head you automatically assume like they're not doing any work, which obviously we know is not necessarily true. In some cases it is if, you know, you're a shitty person and you're not doing the work for your clients, but assuming you're a good person and you're doing the work for your clients and you're just not sending them an email every 10 seconds, you know, the client's gonna assume that you're not doing anything. So sending a weekly email has been super helpful for me. When it comes to clients, always over communicate. Like that's my golden standard. Over communication is like the baseline. So how I do that specifically is a weekly email and then I do a bi-weekly call with all my clients. And I know that's pretty excessive for some people. I know they talk with their clients once a month or once a quarter. But for me, I'm very personal and intimate with my clients and I really wanna make sure that they're getting results. So every two weeks, we're getting on a phone call. Dude, literally, it could be like 15 minutes, not even, I've literally had five minute phone calls with my clients. We're literally getting on the call in two weeks and we're just like, hey, you're alive, you're breathing? Good, awesome, boom. And then like, that's it. But that's all you need sometimes, you know? So again, overcommunication is key when it comes to managing client relationships. If you're not doing that right now and you're a marketing professional, try that out for 30 days, see what the client relationship looks like, and then come back to me and let me know your experience. Super simple. Over-communication is key because your clients are gonna know that they're being taken care of and that you are on top of things. Another really important thing to mention about communication is transparency. You gotta be very transparent with your clients. When things are going good, you need to tell them things are going good. When things are going bad, you need to tell them things are going bad. Transparent communication is so important because that's gonna show the client that no matter when it rains or when it shines, you are gonna be there and they can trust in you and what you have to say. Because it's not about me proving myself to you, it's about, hey, we're in this together trying to achieve this objective. So transparent communication is so critical. Don't feel ashamed or scared to be able to tell your clients hey, this isn't working, tell them it's not working. They're gonna respect you and they're gonna appreciate you for that. I've had clients where it just would not work. Like, the numbers didn't add up. And I just told them flat out. I'm like, look, you may wanna consider investing in this instead. And you need to be transparent and authentic and congruent as a professional because other professionals are gonna respect that and they're gonna appreciate that you are somebody that they can trust and that no matter what, you're not gonna be blowing smoke up there, you know what? So that's something that's really helpful in terms of managing client relationships is be honest, be completely transparent, brutal honesty. The third and final point that's really helped me when it comes to managing client relationships is the mindset that you have when it comes to clients. So a lot of people have this mentality of when they approach client relationships, it's they always have to prove themselves. It's I'm always trying to prove myself to you, the client, that I am worthy of, you know, your retainer. And that's not a very healthy mindset that I've experienced having. The other mindset that people commonly take is I'm right and you're wrong. Like that doesn't really help you and that doesn't help the client. The mindset that I like to adopt is a mindset of collaboration, of hey, we're in it together to make this thing work. It's not a matter of I don't believe in you as a client and you don't believe in me as a provider. It's we are in this thing together, so when things are going good, I'm gonna tell you. When things are going bad, I'm gonna tell you. And no matter what, we're gonna figure it out, right? It is inevitable. We will figure this thing out. And if it happens to make sense that in order for you to reach your goal, working with me is not the best solution, I'm gonna tell you. Like, just fully transparent and having the mindset of collaboration versus, you know, confrontation or validation, however you wanna put it, That is the mindset that I like to adopt. And by having that mindset of collaboration, you're gonna be a lot more selective with the clients that you take on. And then the ones that you do work with, you're gonna be a lot more attentive and it just comes off better too. I'm trying to describe it to you, but it's almost like the client can feel the energy you're coming from and they can really, and I know I'm getting kind of woo here, but it's true. Like just from what I've experienced is when you approach it from that mentality and you kind of just like, like just let go of all like the expectations of like me trying to prove myself to you and you just come up straight up with like setting those expectations from the beginning on here's what we're gonna achieve together, here's the goal, right? Like here's what I want from you, here's what you want from me, and we are in this together, but truly, I mean, it's just a game changer. And then from there, you don't be surprised if like your clients end up becoming friends and you guys are just like hanging out and making fun and laughing and joking and it's just a beautiful relationship, you know, in a very professional way, the relationship is no longer like, you know, oh my God, I have to keep proving myself because I know my client's getting hit up by 50 other marketing companies. It's just, you've built a deeper relationship, right? You know about them more on a personal level. You know their story. You know what they're really trying to achieve. And you're just there. And again, you're in it together. And that mindset of collaboration is so key. Cause I mean, I've had campaigns that for whatever reason, they're just not working, you know what I mean? Like it's just the offer, the timing, COVID, whatever it might be. But just because I've built that relationship of being very transparent with my clients, setting expectations and having that mindset of collaboration, it's no longer like, oh, can Silvio deliver on what we need? It's just based on these factors, you know what I mean? Like we're working towards it, right? So that is my final point is have a mindset of collaboration when it comes to your clients. Don't be so hard on your clients and don't be so hard on yourself. Like your client is a person just like you're a person. You're both gonna make mistakes. You're both not always gonna agree with each other. Your client's gonna probably wanna do things a certain way and you're gonna get frustrated because you're gonna be like, you don't know what you're talking about. Just do it this way. Like I know what I'm doing. Like don't be afraid to voice your opinion to your clients. That's why you're there. And just again, have that mindset of collaboration and that's really gonna help you kind of solidify having clients over the longterm, getting more referrals, getting more video testimonials and all the good things that we want out of client relationships. I hope you got tremendous value out of this video. If you can, if you could share this video with anyone that you think can benefit from the information that I shared, that would be amazing. If you can like the video as well, that would be great. And if you're not already subscribed to the channel, consider subscribing for more future content on digital advertising, Google Ads and all about helping you grow your business online or grow your client's business online and really just sharing my experiences when it comes to advertising online. And last but not least, if you're interested in learning more about Google Ads, I highly recommend you join the Google Ads Pro Facebook group. This is a new Facebook group that I started, all about Google advertising, helping you learn how to launch, optimize, and scale profitable Google Ad campaigns, and you can find that in the description box down below. I look forward to seeing you in the next video. Take care. you