Is Your Bedside Manner Affecting Your Bottom Line?

As an entrepreneur, here’s an awkward question: How likeable are you?

No really.

As a solopreneur or small business owner, it’s no secret that your clients are your bread and butter! So if you want to increase your income and grow your business, you’ve gotta treat those clients like the precious gems they are!

High-quality customer service is essential to growing or establishing your small business’ bottom line. It’s a Virtuous Circle that drives profits and allows you to compete against other businesses who might have more funding and resources in their pockets. Your excellent interpersonal skills can really set you apart and add to your unique value proposition.

Here are 5 reasons why your bedside manner matters for your bottom line:

1. Shine with a Glowing Reputation

Even after your product or service has reached the end of its lifespan with a client, your reputation and customer perception lives on. What kind of impression are you leaving with your clients? What do you think your current reputation is? Is it as positive as it could be?

Did you know that according to a survey conducted by Dimensional Research and sponsored by ZenDesk, 95% of respondents who had a poor experience said they told someone about it, compared to 87% who shared a good experience? Wow! Plus, respondents who suffered a bad interaction were 50% more likely to share it on social media than those who had good experiences. Uh oh!

In fact, Ruby Newell-Legner, author of Understanding Customers, stated that 12 positive experiences are required to make up for just one unresolved negative one. What?! Tipping the scale back into the positive zone is harder than we thought!

So, in order to maintain your squeaky clean reputation and make sure your clients come back again and again, ensure you’re treating them like gold—because they basically are gold!

2. Good Customer Service = Better Product/Service

The way you serve your clients reflects on your entire business. Your clients’ perception will assume that if your bedside manner is on point then your product or service is too. It’s not enough to have a great product or service but only mediocre customer service because, from your clients point of view, they’re one and the same.

As a solopreneur, it’s essential to make your clients feel cared for. They’re living, breathing, emotive beings, not robots, so play to their emotions.

If you treat customers with genuine courtesy and respect, they’re much more likely to invest their faith in your business… and their money too! We’re sure it won’t be hard for you to drum up some genuine appreciation for your kick-@ss clients—just make sure that you’re making your client care a priority.

3. Being Likeable is an Effective Marketing Strategy

It’s no secret that word-of-mouth is the holy grail of marketing! When your customers speak highly of you and your business, it’s more powerful than any paid marketing strategy you can think of. And who doesn’t want the best marketing for FREE? So treat your client’s right and you’re sure to see that bottom line grow and grow, not only from landing more awesome clients but also from saving money on advertising!

4. Great Client Care Directly Impacts Retention

Here’s another fun fact: It costs so much less to keep hold of current customers than it does to attract new ones. And did you know that on average, loyal customers are worth up to ten times as much as their first purchase? Say what?! But as a solopreneur we don’t have to tell you twice about the effort, money, and time it takes to onboard new clients, let alone find those new clients. So it’s no surprise that an experienced client who sticks with you means reduced efforts for you in the long run, which equals a greater bottom line.

5. There are Other Options Out There

I don’t doubt that you rock at what you do but in today’s world there’s virtually no market left untapped. That means that even if you’re awesome at what you do, there are other stellar people out there doing the same thing too. Being likeable, pleasant, positive, and client-focused is the best way to win your clients’ loyalty. The closer the relationship you have with your clients, the less likely they are to be wooed by your competitors.

It’s incredibly important to value each and every one of your clients because if you don’t, there’s surely a competitor waiting to scoop them up. In fact, an American Express survey found that a  whopping 78% of consumers have backed out of a transaction or failed to make a planned purchase because of sub-par customer service.

So if you always have a cheerful, sunny disposition you’re likely to increase your client-base, retain existing customers and, of course, grow that bottom line!

The End Result

All in all, it’s a no-brainer that consciously thinking about the way you treat your clients is essential to growing your bottom line. It’s always a good idea to ask for feedback from each client to ensure they enjoyed the experience of working with you, as well as to get ideas about how to better handle certain situations.

Of course, it’s also important to tailor customer-service experiences so that each client gets a service as unique as they are! This helps your client to feel special and valued and will deepen your professional relationship and result in more customer loyalty.

Only you are able to provide the best bedside manner to your clients and that includes making the experience as effortless and pleasant for them as possible. That means anticipating their needs; adding contact forms on your website, customer service tools in your app, providing reporting that answers questions, a smooth onboarding process, etc.

For new clients, never underestimate the value of a clear, user-friendly website which explains how you can help solve their problems, a great FAQ, and easy-to-find contact information. If you place the opportunity for interaction directly into the hands of your prospective clients, you’ll ultimately guide them from interaction to purchase.

So, what’s your favorite way to treat your amazing clients? We’d love to hear your tips and strategies so leave us a comment below!