For marketing, advertising and PR firms, RELATIONS built between the company and customers are critical to driving repeat business, sustainable growth and positive word of mouth. Maintaining these vital relationships is becoming increasingly difficult due to a fiercely competitive market where customers demand higher engagement, lower costs and higher quality products and services.

The good news is that maintaining strong relationships with your customers is known to promote higher retention rates and better revenue. A study found that customers who form a strong emotional connection with a brand have a 300% higher longevity value compared to consumers who failed to build a relationship. For agency leaders, it's important to have strategies to build and foster strong, long-term relationships with your clients.

Connected: How to make your clients want to work with you

1. Set clear expectations and deliver on your promises

One of the best ways to build a relationship with your customers is by always offering superior products and services. However, the realization of this begins at the beginning of the relationship from setting clear expectations on what they can expect. Being transparent about the intended outcome, delivery timelines and communication helps avoid any disappointment that may come from misunderstandings or misplaced expectations.

For new firms, it is especially important to impress your potential clients. Unfortunately, many companies make big promises that they cannot successfully deliver. By over-promising, you set your customer up for potential disappointment. Instead, always offer realistic expectations with the goal of overdistribution. The client will be impressed when you are able to deliver the marketing campaign in three weeks, when you initially set a wait of 25 working days. You can even throw in an unexpected gift or benefit that they weren't expecting. By always keeping your promises and over-delivering when possible, you will build a relationship based on trust and be known as a reliable business partner.

2. Focus on creating value first

Selling your services is an important part of growing revenue for your business. However, focusing only on what you can get from your customers can sabotage your ability to do so build strong relationships with your customers. Instead, focus on giving them value first. This starts long before you sign your first contract. When customers see tangible value and immediate benefits from working with your business, they are more likely to respond by remaining loyal customers to your company.

3. Communication, communication, communication

Maintaining an ongoing relationship with your customers requires regular contact, even if they are not ready to buy from you again. The problem is that many companies only focus on connecting with their customers when they want to make a new sale. This is not an effective way to build strong relationships with customers because it can be perceived that you only care about them when they have something you want (ie their money).

Taking the time to check in with your customers on a regular basis is a great way to maintain a strong relationship. This also helps eliminate tension and remove the defenses that come up when every contact ends up being a sales pitch. These checks can be face-to-face meetings, phone calls or even a simple email.

It is important to understand that no two customers are the same. Finding ways to tailor your communication according to their preferences and needs lets the customer know that you understand their needs, challenges and goals.

Connected: 4 tips to create long-term winning customer relationships

4. Own your mistakes

Every now and then, your agency will make a mistake or upset a client. This is inevitable. You'll miss a deadline, deliver an ad that should never have passed the quality control process, or miss the ball entirely. How your business responds to these issues can make a big difference with your customers. Owning the mistakebeing transparent about what happened and proactively working toward a resolution lets them know you care about resolving the issue.

Submission hard news or discussion challenges are never easy. By demonstrating your willingness to address challenges head-on and find mutually beneficial solutions, you will strengthen your client relationships and position yourself for long-term success.

5. Learn from failure through continuous improvement

Sometimes, you will lose customers no matter what your business does. This can be painful, especially if it's a large client that generates a significant portion of your revenue. While the goal is to retain your customers, there is a silver lining to customer turnover. As frustrating as it may be, always try to part ways on good terms. You never know when they might decide to come back to your business. A good way to do this is by offering them some form of value on their way out. For example, if you run a digital marketing firm, you show good faith by supporting their transition to the next agency.

Also, taking the time to understand why they are leaving can be revealing opportunities for improvement. Over time, taking action on these lessons can greatly strengthen your processes and ensure you avoid any obstacles to building and maintaining long-term customer relationships.

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Acquiring new customers is not only challenging, but also expensive. It is much more effective to spend time keeping the customers you have. By building strong relationships with customers, entrepreneurs can protect their bottom line and position their companies for growth and success, despite operating in the competitive world of marketing, advertising and PR.