Strengthening customer loyalty, repeat business and ongoing referrals is something we all want for our business. But how do we get there? By creating genuine empathy and rapport with our clients from the first meeting. If you’re a business owner or in business, the importance of looking after your clients won’t be a lightbulb moment, you already know. However, increasingly, with the shift of technology taking over our offices, it pays to be mindful of how this is affecting our clients.

Let’s talk about how note taking in client meetings can positively or negatively affect your relationship.

How do you currently take your notes when you are with your clients? Or in any meeting? If it’s on paper, what is the likelihood of a client note or an important task going missing in the process of being filed or actioned? From chatting with Notud’s users and others in the industry, this is a recurring topic of conversation and a huge problem with paper based notes.

There’s also a problem with typing behind a computer or laptop, the human connection is divided, therefore the client relationship and the trust and empathy you have with them is too. Personally, I have spoken to a number of client facing professionals who refuse to type when they are with a client, even with the benefits of having the notes automatically online, because of the impact it can have on their relationship and how the client feels. There are endless benefits of taking your notes online. It saves us TIME. There are many tasks that are cut from the process with going online and loads of further automation options to make life simpler.

Access your notes from anywhere. Whether you’re working in the office, from home, or catching up on the go, you will have your notes with you. It is much more unlikely you will lose or misplace important information than it would be with paper notes.

The notes are searchable. Even with handwriting online, like with Notud, you can search any typed or handwritten note, client data or other information at the click of a button (hello impromptu client drop in or phone call!).

Your notes can be saved automatically to a client file or other system you use, and notes can be quickly sent to team members or clients.

Then behind the scenes, if you’re using the right notes system, your information is secured with data encryption, backup and active system monitoring. Your business’ information, and your clients data, is much more secure than stored in brick and mortar or your carry bag.

Bruce, founder of Notud, knows how important it is to keep up with new technology, yet can also clearly recognise the downfall of having a client meeting with a computer screen in the middle of you both. Although you might feel more organised having your notes already typed on your computer instead of on your paper notepad, this can negatively impact your client, and therefore, your business.

So, can we have both? Handwriting our notes, while having them automatically saved in the cloud? Thanks to the team at Notud, you can.

Notud is made for those who handwrite their notes on paper, and are ready to go online without changing the way you take your notes. There are endless benefits to handwriting your notes, including improved recall of the information, improved memory, concentration, it encourages creativity, enhances critical thinking, and allows more of your brain to be accessed when compared to typing.

Notud has been built and customised for businesses, so you can use your tablet on your desk (or at a coffee shop!) to handwrite your notes with a client, instead of sitting behind a computer screen. You can establish eye contact, clearly notice body language, and have an engaging conversation with no distractions between you. This is key for building empathy, rapport and connection with your clients.

With our growing stack of integration partners, you can sync client lists and information, save notes to your existing document management systems, and send notes and tasks to your team. It is also equipped with the ability to type or dictate your notes when you need to. Notud allows you to customise your notes and note templates, add your team, view notes as thumbnails for a quick view and recall of your notes, and importantly in this day and age, access all of your notes on any device, anywhere. Best of all, it is so easy to use.

Aside from handwriting your notes, how else can you build rapport and empathy with clients (or anyone in your life!)? The answer is ultimately quite simple, you might already be doing them without knowing! Making eye contact, showing open and engaged body language, expressing interest in what they are saying by asking follow up questions and finding common interests, ask open ended questions, use the person’s name throughout the conversation, reflect back what they are saying, and match the person’s energy.

Showing these qualities are GOLD and will ensure you have a great relationship with all of your clients. We love when clients are happy because they will boast about our business, and if they do have a complaint, it is much more likely to be communicated and solved in a friendly, collaborative manner. Paying mindful attention to your clients is paying attention to your business.