The Ultimate Guide to Client Communication in the Digital Age

Effective client communication helps a company develop its brand, build trust with customers, and sustain business. Establishing strong communication channels with clients opens the door to valuable customer feedback, which can help businesses better understand their customers, as well as their needs and how to meet them.

On the flip side, businesses that neglect client communication might miss growth opportunities or worse, lose customers. 

Communication can make or break the customer experience, so good practices are essential for boosting engagement, loyalty, and retention. Check out our top recommendations and success stories for better client communication.

What is client communication and why does it matter?

Client communication can take place through a variety of methods and mediums. It might look like typical business interactions, such as reaching out to clients, responding to client outreach, and engaging with customers. Other options include:

• Business messaging: Directly contact customers and prospects through Slack Connect, which allows external parties to join your company’s workspace.
• Customer support: Address consumer questions, concerns, and other issues via email, phone, live chat, or social media.
• Email newsletters: Regularly email subscribers to provide information on new products, company news, and promotions.
• Social media updates: Interact with customers on social media platforms through posts, comments, and messages.
• Surveys and feedback forms: Use digital platforms to collect customer feedback about products and services.
• Mobile messages: Send your subscribers offers, updates, and other information using SMS or mobile app notifications.
• Webinars and livestreams: Host online seminars or other streaming events to educate consumers or demo products.

Timely, transparent communication is a simple and effective way for businesses to build trust and satisfaction with their clients to foster loyalty and ultimately drive revenue. Improving client relationships can reduce miscommunications and misunderstandings and enhance the customer experience.

Enhance client communication skills for modern work settings

Client communication channels might look different today than they did five years ago, but the basic best practices remain the same. Below we look at five strategies for efficient, effective client communication.

1. Make sure you understand your clients

When a client reaches out or provides feedback, practice active listening. Focus on understanding their perspective and responding with care. Active listening shows respect for the client and their opinions. Here’s how to do it:

• Stay present. Focus on the client when they speak, and make eye contact if you’re talking face to face. Avoid distractions, such as secondary screens.
• Repeat the message. Confirm your understanding by paraphrasing and repeating the message back to them.
• Ask questions. Avoid interrupting the customer when they’re talking, and ask questions when appropriate to show your interest and gain more context.
• Provide affirmation. Communicate empathy and acknowledge their comments with positive words and body language, such as head nodding and verbal affirmation.

2. Avoid wasting time

Client messaging should be clear and to the point. Leave no room for misinterpretation. To ensure client-facing communication is as clear as possible:

• Avoid jargon and complex terms
• Get straight to the point
• Convey your message as concisely as possible
• Skip unnecessary details
• Use headings or bullet points for easy scanning in written communication

3. Show empathy

Empathy is key for effective relationship-building. In business communications, empathy demonstrates that you see your clients as real people with real emotions — not just sales opportunities. An EY survey found that empathy is essential to fostering inclusivity. Of 1,000 professionals surveyed, 87% said empathy encourages mutual respect.

4. Personalize your delivery

In a business relationship, both parties should feel heard and understood. Consider adding personal touches to your communications, such as referencing previous interactions with that client, to show a shared connection. Tailoring your outreach strategy to individual clients can create more meaningful conversations, as everyone has different communication styles and preferences.

5. Respond promptly

Don’t keep your clients waiting. Respond in a timely manner to show you value their time and take them seriously. A Salesforce State of the Connected Customer Report found that 77% of customers expect immediate interaction when they contact a company. Ensure you or someone from your team can respond quickly through Slack, over email, or via any other platforms where your clients might reach out.

Client communication: A two-way street

Your client communication strategy should always be open to improvement. Regularly collect feedback from your clients, and make adjustments as needed. Here are a few ways to maintain effective client communications:

 

• Regular check-ins and updates. Stick to a regular schedule for client check-ins. Use those meetings to discuss issues, provide updates, or adjust plans. After each meeting, send a follow-up message highlighting the main points, including decisions, action items, and next steps.
• Clear expectations. You and your clients should understand each other’s communication expectations. Determine an appropriate cadence, preferred communication channels, and the best times to reach out.
• Feedback mechanisms. Gather clients’ feedback on a regular basis so you can change your processes according to their insights. Consider sending surveys, conducting review meetings, setting up a suggestion box, or creating a poll in Slack using apps such as Polly or Simple Poll. You might even use Slack’s Workflow Builder to automate feedback requests after certain types of client interactions.
• Make data-informed changes. Use a tool like Sales Elevate, Slack’s integration with Salesforce, to track progress with various prospects and clients. Sales Elevate gathers client records, accounts, opportunities, and key metrics for seamless analysis within Slack.

Choosing the best tools for effective client communication

Instead of defaulting to email for your client communications, consider other tools, workflows, and methods that might work even better.

Stay updated with communication tool trends

The best client communication tools for business vary depending on what each unique customer relationship needs. While email is still the most widely used client communication tool, its popularity is declining. A Project.co survey found that 62% of people primarily used email for client comms in 2023, compared with 55% in 2024.

This evolution makes sense because email is limited and cannot facilitate a collaborative, real-time conversation as effectively as other business-messaging methods. For example, Slack supports both asynchronous and synchronous communication, backed with airtight security, time-saving automation and AI, and useful collaboration features.

Find communication software that integrates with other apps

Choose a customer communication platform that cooperates with your company’s existing tech stack. Slack integrates with over 2,600 business apps to reduce context switching and give you more time to focus on the message — without worrying about the medium.

Implement a seamless client communication workflow

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to client communication. When cookie-cutter solutions don’t quite fit the bill, it may be time to create a custom client communication process. Here’s how to establish a workflow that better serves your business.

• Know your audience. Understand your customers’ preferences, needs, and communication habits.
• Use the right channels. Select the best-suited outreach channels for every client, such as video conferencing, social media, or direct messaging.
• Craft messages with care. Messages sent to clients should be clear, concise, personalized, and relevant to the channel that’s hosting them.
• Pick the right moment. Communicate in the right channel at the right time to maximize engagement.
• Track client responses. Pay attention to how customers receive the message, and respond accordingly.
• Analyze feedback. Gather actionable insights by mining customer feedback and behavioral data.
• Adjust as needed. Use that feedback to refine your messaging and communication strategies.
• Follow up. Keep the conversation going through updates and additional support.

How Slack helped DIP Corporation stay ‘always connected’ to its clients

DIP Corporation, a DX and HR services company, knows the importance of effective client communication. Seventy percent of its employees are field sales reps who regularly engage with clients via email, phone calls, and face-to-face meetings — direct communication methods that can also be disjointed, time-consuming, and tedious. Phone and in-person meetings couldn’t be recorded, and email provided limited visibility.

In 2020, DIP opted to modernize its client communications with Slack. Within a year of adoption, an internal DIP survey found that 97% of employees said Slack improved communication. The sales team said they use Slack to fortify an “always connected” approach to client relations.

“When it comes to the ability to respond in real time and in terms of speed, Slack enables communication with clients that is equal to that experienced in direct face-to-face meetings out in the field,” said Kei Shinto, the head of DIP’s next-generation business development division. “We are in the process of creating a sales style that is unmatched anywhere else.”

Optimize client communication with Slack

Slack keeps you and your clients connected. The AI-powered work operating system brings the components necessary for effective client communication into one user-friendly space. The following features can help you improve your client communication strategy for improved efficiency:

• Slack Sales Elevate: Collect Salesforce Cloud data within Slack for accessible analysis.
• Slack Connect: Welcome clients into an existing Slack workspace for secure, seamless messaging.
• Channels: Organize, archive, and search within client conversations using topic-specific channels.
• Threads: Keep communications focused and easy to navigate with self-contained discussion topics.
• Huddles: Jump into on-the-spot video and audio calls with clients and co-workers for synchronous chats.
• File-sharing: Share and collaborate on documents without leaving Slack to avoid losing attachments.
• Thousands of Slack apps: Integrate tools and technologies for robust, dynamic, and collaborative client communications within Slack.
• Slack AI: Save time with automated summaries of channels and threads. Slack AI can take notes during a client call, help you solve issues fast using data from your CRM, and find answers by searching through your workspace’s chat history.

The right communication tools can make all the difference in strengthening your communication strategy and client relationships. Slack brings everyone — from C-suite clients to brand-new customers — into the conversation for better communication and improved productivity.