Client retention is essential to your success and it is crucial to use various client retention strategies in your practice. It takes more time and costs much more money to get new clients than it does to keep the ones you have. So many coaches focus all their energy on marketing and finding new clients, but drop the ball when it comes to client retention strategies. Though you will most likely never escape the marketing and promotion treadmill for as long as you coach, investing time into keeping the clients you have will make that treadmill less onerous and time-consuming.

5 Client Retention Strategies That Work

1. The first client retention strategy is to over-deliver. Make sure each and every client is highly satisfied with your services. Even if 100% of your clients are satisfied, some will still decide to leave for various reasons. Leaving isn’t always a negative – many leave because you helped them reach their goals. However, if you over-deliver – give them even more then they expect with your time, skills, knowledge, attention, and empathy – you will retain the majority of your clients.
2. Give them a sense that you care about them. Make sure they recognize that their success is important to you. Remember details of the dreams and fears, the names of their family members, and the minutia of their lives. You must be able to express sincere sympathy and empathy.
3. Unexpected gifts or bonuses. This is one of the most underused coaching retention strategies, but more coaches should begin employing this beneficial technique. When clients know they will receive a gift or bonus for achieving a goal, it’s a great way to remind them of the value of your services, but if the gift or bonus is unexpected, it’s even better! If clients reach specific goals – receiving a promotion, losing a certain amount of weight, finishing a marathon – providing them with an unexpected gift or bonus is a great way to keep them interested in your services and keep them coming back for more.
4. Build relationships with others coaches in and outside of your niche. Coaching is competitive, but the more peers you meet and the more coaching contacts you make, the more respected your name and practice will become. Coaches will send referrals to you and they will stay with based on the suggestion of another coach and your reputation.
5. Do you have any clients whom you aren’t helping? Have any you just don’t like? Let them go – send them packing. No need to keep them if the relationship isn’t mutually beneficial. Working too hard on a few troublesome clients may take valuable time away from your other clients Letting go of clients who will most likely leave you soon anyway, will give you more time to spend with your other clients. Not all coach/client relationships work – but making the ones that do work, work for a long time is critical.

Keeping clients is essential and developing strategies to keep them is part of running a coaching business. Utilizing effective client retention strategies will help you stay in business and take your business to a while new level.

By the way… you’re invited to claim your FREE step-by-step “Life Coaching Business Blueprint” video toolkit. Just go HERE now to get your life coaching business blueprint videos.

Fred Philips
Business Coach
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