With Clients: 6 Ways to Get Repeat Work

1. Do exactly what you promised

One fifty-dollar job, again and again, beats a seventy-dollar one-off for your side hustle. Here are six steps, counting down to the biggest one. Number six: do exactly what you promised, then check in after the job. Customers with a positive experience are more likely to return.

Deliver within the time, cost and speed you promised. It's better to under-promise and over-deliver, and always live up to your promises. Keep appointments, answer letters and return phone calls. For email replies, one guide's general rule is a twenty-four hour turnaround.

Listen to customers, and communicate clearly and professionally. Make it easy for them to reach you, and answer questions promptly. Handle complaints fairly and efficiently, one portal adds. One guide suggests a request-to-call option, so customers pick the day and time you phone.

Then follow up: keep in touch with customers after their purchase. Talk about the support you give after the sale, another guide suggests. One small business emails each returning customer a couple of weeks later, just to say thank you. If something goes wrong, follow up once it's solved, and make sure they're happy.

Then ask what they thought of how you handled it, one guide adds. The happier your customers are, the more likely they stay loyal and recommend you, one guide says. Good overall service is the best way to build customer loyalty, another adds. Small details count too, one guide says, even how easy your return process is.

Excellent support and simpler processes can increase how many customers stay, another says. The plus: a twenty-four hour reply habit; the catch: every promise has to be kept. One guide's areas to check include follow-up that is relevant and timely. Another lists nine ways good service can raise your sales.

Two are simple: a courtesy call after a sale, and a reminder when a service is due. Others include answering common questions on your website, and a free helpline. Another: free extras that help customers get the most from what they bought. So the email reply comes within a day, and the thank-you about two weeks after the job.

Subscribe, because next we cover one question that shows who will recommend you. Every step and rule in this video comes straight from the official guide pages linked below.

2. Ask customers what they think, and use the answer

Number five: ask customers what they think, and use the answer. After a purchase, customers form an opinion, so ask them for feedback. Ask customers if they were satisfied with your work. One simple question asks, from zero to ten, how likely they are to recommend you.

Nine or ten marks a fan, seven or eight is neutral, and zero to six is unhappy. By our count, only two of the eleven possible answers, nine and ten, mark a fan. Feedback tells you what customers like and dislike about your business, one guide says. Ask with a short survey, a quick chat face to face, or a phone call.

Keep the questions simple, so customers can answer quickly. One guide also suggests an open question about what they'd like you to offer. You can even build the questions into your online checkout, another adds. A small thank-you, like a discount or a free product, can encourage people to answer.

Respond to every review, positive and negative, one guide says. Another checks review sites at least twice a week. Then act on it: customers like businesses that act on feedback. Use what you hear to improve what you sell and your service, one guide says.

A customer who complains is giving you a chance to keep their business. Handle it well, and they're likely to be more loyal than if nothing had gone wrong. The plus: one question from zero to ten; the catch: the answers only help if you act. Number four: keep in touch with past customers, with their permission.

3. Keep in touch with past customers

Build your contact list from existing and new customers who agree to receive updates. Keep customer details and sales records in one central database. It cuts errors, speeds up sales and helps you solve problems faster, that guide says. Let customers know when contracts need renewing, or when better deals come up.

Even a holiday card for regular customers is appreciated, one guide says. Only ask for the information you need, keep it safe, and use it only as you promised. Tell people what you'll do with it, and don't give it to anyone else. When you no longer need it, delete it or remove the details that identify them.

Asking for a review by email? One guide says you need the customer's permission first. Before marketing emails or texts, several guides say to get permission first. The general rule is clear, affirmative consent, like opting in, one of them says.

Keep a record of each yes: who gave it, when and how. Make leaving easy too: two guides give five working days to honor an unsubscribe. Two others give ten business days, at no cost to the person leaving. By our count, that's one week to unsubscribe in two guides, and two weeks in the other two.

One guide lets you email past customers who bought something similar, if every message offers a simple opt-out. Another says the first such message must go out within twelve months of the sale. These rules differ a lot where you live, so ask first and keep a record. Halfway there: promises kept, feedback used, and a yes for every message.

4. Reward customers for coming back

Number three: reward customers for coming back. One guide's example: a car wash with a free cleaning every tenth visit. Another's: a restaurant loyalty card, where you buy nine meals and get one free. By our count, both give one free in every ten visits or meals.

Start with a thank-you discount, then raise its value as loyalty grows, one guide says. Or send loyal customers a digital coupon for a discount. Free draws for regular customers are another idea, one guide adds. Rewards help loyal customers build pleasant memories of your business, another guide says.

Send a reminder at the time of year a customer usually orders. A plain appointment reminder is a service message, not marketing, one guide says. Make it easy to start and finish a purchase, too. If price kept a past customer away, one guide suggests a time-limited discount, like 20% off for three months.

By our count, 20% off means paying eighty for every hundred of the normal price. One small business emails people who last booked at least six months ago. It offers them 25% off if they book within a week. And it encourages them to book regular appointments.

Then it checks how many people used the code, and compares earnings with previous months. One guide suggests an expiry date on a win-back voucher. The plus: one free in ten is simple; the catch: loyalty programs and discounts cost money. So far: promises kept, feedback used, permission asked, and a reason to come back.

If you're just starting out, our earlier seven-step guide to starting a business is linked on screen.

5. Ask your happiest customers to send you new ones

Number two: ask your happiest customers to send you new ones. One guide says the people they refer are more likely to stay loyal. The best advertisement is a satisfied customer, another says. Loyal customers are more likely to refer you to friends and family, a third adds.

Time it right: ask soon after they buy. Customers who rate you nine or ten are the likely ones to refer you. So the fans from your zero-to-ten question are the ones to ask first. Reward customers who introduce or recommend you, one guide says.

Make your referral offer easy to find on your website. Be honest and transparent about how it works. A share button can encourage referrals too. Ask happy customers for testimonials to use in your sales material.

Even an unhappy customer can become an ambassador, winning new customers by word of mouth. Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most important ways to grow your business, one guide says. Satisfied customers contribute for years, through purchases, recommendations and referrals. Referral programs can help bring in loyal, long-term customers, a public business bank says.

The plus: nines and tens are likely to refer you; the catch: rewarded referrals by email have rules. Asking customers to forward your marketing emails still counts as your message, one guide says.

6. Know what a loyal customer is worth to you

Number one: know what a loyal customer is worth to you. Lifetime value is the total revenue a customer brings over your whole relationship. To estimate it, think how long you'll keep them, and how much they'll spend in that time. One guide compares a one-off customer who spends $70 with a loyal one who regularly spends fifty.

It might cost the same to win both, but lifetime value shows the benefit of the loyal one. Say Maya has both clients: by our count, the fifty-dollar regular passes seventy on the second visit. To see what a new customer costs, divide your marketing spend by the customers it brings, one guide says. Its example: $450 on a campaign brings thirty new customers, at $15 each.

Its ideal ratio: lifetime value at least three times what you spend to win the customer. By our count, at $15 to win a customer, that's at least $45 of revenue from them. Other guides count lifetime value after the costs of winning and keeping the customer. Retention is how well you hold on to customers, usually as a percentage.

A business people come back to year after year may keep 80% of its customers. One that gains and loses customers each month might keep 20%. Keep track of how many customers you have, and how often and how much they spend. Ask new customers how they heard about you.

Website tools can show which promotions bring the most sales, and the share of repeat buyers. Your zero-to-ten score also shows who your most valuable current customers are. Compare your marketing and sales costs with the revenue they bring, one guide says. Some tactics, like word of mouth, are hard to measure, so measure the same way each time.

The plus: a simple ratio, three to one; the catch: it needs your own numbers. That's number one: a fifty-dollar regular can be worth more than a seventy-dollar one-off. Quick recap: deliver, ask, keep in touch, reward, get referrals, know the worth. Which one would you try first?

Tell us the number in the comments. If you want those clients to pay on time, the next video is on screen now: seven steps to get paid sooner. Information only; results vary. This is Extra Income Explained.