OK – so right at the start before jumping in to shortcuts I want to say that obviously if you want loyal clients you have to do a great job for them and make it a brilliant experience.

That's your baseline. You can't just “hack” your way to loyal clients – you've got to do things right.

But there are some areas you can especially focus on to make it more likely that satisfied clients become loyal ones. And perhaps even into referrers or promoters for you.

The first is to make sure they get some kind of quick wins.

Even if it's something small, getting results fast gives you confidence. It means that for the rest of their relationship with you they'll assume things are going to work out well. They won't second guess or doubt.

And because they look at everything through a positive lens, every small win will seem bigger. Every setback, just a minor roadblock on the route to success. They'll stay with you through tough patches when they might have bailed if they hadn't had those early successes.

Or to turn it around, if you don't get them some results quickly then they might not stick around long enough to get the big, long-term wins they signed up for.

The second thing you can do is to quickly get them interacting with other people like them who are part of your community.

There's something very reassuring about knowing you're not alone. That others are going through the same things as you. That there are people you can talk to who are just that bit further on their journey than you.

Once your clients become active members of your community they'll gain value from those interactions themselves rather than just the work they do with you. They'll feel part of something bigger rather than just having a transactional relationship with you.

That community could be face to face: an invite to a free client and/or ex-client workshop.  It could be online in something simple like a Facebook group or forum. Or it could be a virtual mastermind for your clients using Skype, Zoom or one of the myriad of free video conferencing tools we have these days.

That interaction with others and the sense of community it creates is much stronger than you could ever get just by doing a great job alone.

And frankly, it's not that difficult to do if you put your mind to it.