You never want to deal with the loss of a client or customer, but it will undoubtedly happen. Between differing visions, changes in budgets and lack of time for new projects, you will sooner or later have to deal with the loss of clients or customers that were once loyal and valuable parts of your business. Unfortunately, all too many people lose clients not because of uncontrollable circumstances, but because of bad decisions. In the following article, we will discuss several ways that can quickly cause the loss of a customer or client if you are not careful to avoid them.

Being Ignorant of Their Needs

This may seem like it would be impossible, but there are plenty of people who have managed to obtain clients without understanding their needs, industry or niche. If you have not had a valuable discussion with your clients about their goals, target markets, competitors and any important keywords or strategies they wish to follow or implement, then you are not prepared to help them. Over time, the quality of the work will become more evident to the client – even if it is a subconscious sort of process – and they will begin pinging search engines in search of new help with their brand and needs.

Failing to Analyse Keywords

When providing SEO benefit to a client or business, their number one concern may not be clear to them in technical detail, but it almost always results in you researching keywords and competitiveness in various niches. When you have access to competitive keyword data and other analytic findings, your ability to communicate effectively with clients and guide them toward better decisions is enhanced. It is these sorts of interactions that help build trust between parties and ensure that open lines of communication are always present. A customer who feels that their SEO solutions are not being guided by proactive decisions will sooner or later find another solution.

Pitching Generically

Losing clients doesn’t just come in the form of losing the ones you already have, but should also be considered from the perspective of lost opportunities. Whenever you are pinging search engines for clients to improve SEO, then you need to be prepared to reach out to each prospective client in a unique and relevant way. Many fly-by-night SEO firms use templates to create their pitch and do very little to demonstrate their knowledge of a particular niche or industry. This approach will cost you clients, but can be completely avoided by ensuring that you provide customized assessments and offers in response to each lead.

Conclusion

Your SEO clients expect certain things from you – many of which won’t ever be articulated directly – and it falls on your shoulders to understand what is standard fare when it comes to expectations. Whether you are trying to grow your client base or preserve the one you currently have, there are three main mistakes you want to avoid. By failing to analyse keywords and industry developments, pitching generally to prospective clients and being ignorant of their SEO needs, you can definitely expect to lose customers and clients – new and existing alike.