Customers are your #1 most important asset when it comes to almost any type of business. They are the ones that bring you your dough at the end of the day and keep your business running. As a result, PR and customer satisfaction is one of the key factors that you must have when running your sound production business. Ensuring customer relations will increase their chances of returning to your studio and not seeking another studio. Keeping your customers satisfied, however, will increase their chances of not only returning to your studio but recommending others to visit your studio. There are many different ways of keeping customer relationships as well as keeping them satisfied, this will all be made clear within the article.
Keeping in Touch with Clients (PR)
You just finished work with a client and thanked them, they thanked you back and left. Now at first you might think that this was a positive outcome. If this sounds like how you would have ended a job with a client then there’s a lot to work on when it comes to PR. When running a business, you need to keep increasing the chances of your clients returning. Simply thanking them and not taking the appropriate measures afterwards is not very efficient as a businessperson.
The first thing you could change is handing out business cards to your customers or sharing your social media such as your Twitter or Instagram. This will ensure that they have your contact details and as a result will increase their chances of finding you and having an easier method to contact you than your competition. Dropping a follow-up email after the job is done, is also another way to make sure that your customers return and also a polite gesture to show that your business cares about their project.
The second would be to politely offer them a chance to write a review for your recording studio. This would subconsciously make them remember your studio and will remind them of their experience there because they took that extra step. This will also help you in attracting more customers especially if the client writes a very positive review.
The third would be to finally remind them that if they ever have another job that they want to do, you could give them a discount as a returning customer. This is an optional choice if discounts aren’t your cup of tea. However, it will surely make your clients more willing to go to you instead of your competition, since they now have a financial incentive as well.
Internal Environment and Customer Satisfaction
The best way to maintain your customers is to ensure that your internal environment is fun, interactive, and inspiring. Especially during a first impression, these qualities are vital to making the customer prefer you over a new session with your competition. There are various different ways to achieve this. Here are some common Do’s and Don’ts.
- Do greet your customers appropriately when they arrive at your studio
- Do make sure everythings ready and remind them to check their resources
- Do make sure if they need any rehearsals or warm ups and offer these options
- Do stay calm during the session especially when the client is stumbling a lot during recording
- Do offer new alternatives or recommendations if you come across anything that might sound good
- Do review the script with the clients before starting
- DON’T fast forward or slow down anything on purpose for the sake of extending or shortening the session
- DON’T be monotone during the session
- DON’T give unconstructive criticism that provides no value to the client
- DON’T fake your approval, if the client does something wrong or if something doesn’t sound right, TELL them. Make sure they can fix it before moving on. This comes with quality assurance.
Communicating with Clients
Sometimes there might be important information that your clients should know about after the session is over. Make sure to keep them updated on any changes you are or will be making to avoid any unneeded edits or additions. After all keep in mind that this is the clients project, you are merely constructing it for them.
Some methods that you can use to communicate with the client is perhaps a Skype meeting. This will allow your client to have a detailed and in depth view of your progress on their project. It also allows for live communication and on the spot changes. However, this might not be a possible option for clients in different time zones or if the clients are unavailable. In that case, instant messaging might be the best option. Sending detailed explanations or emails on the progress using pictures or maybe a video to the client showing the necessary progress should also work. In case a language barrier exists, Google Translate is a good option to help circumvent this obstacle.
Conclusion
Now that you have a basic idea on how to ensure good public relations and customer satisfaction, it’s time to put this into action. On your next appointment with your client try out some of the aforementioned recommendations. Remember that your clients expect the same value that they are paying for. If you are charging high prices for your services, the client will expect very high quality. Either ways it’s always great to maintain high quality work no matter how much you’re charging. Remember, your customers might recommend you to others if you do a good enough job! For more articles on how to set up and run a recording studio, visit Mello Studio’s website.
