| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Five Mistakes Absolutely Guaranteed to Drive Away Your Best Clients
We all work hard to attract even one paying client. In fact, we work hard to attract serious inquiries. Yet amazingly, many business owners seem determined to drive away business! Every example cited here is based on true, thoroughly documented experiences, with both newbie business owners and five-star marquee players. 1. Defensive plays. Client tries to order a product, only to be thoroughly buffaloed by a confusing form. Client writes a complaint, expressing frustration. The business owner writes back, "I have written five best-selling books on customer service, so I know what's reasonable. Nobody else has complained. And we can't do anything anyway." A twenty-five dollar CD isn't a big deal, right? But you probably make these offers to entice big-ticket clients. And if they're testing the waters, they want to see how you operate. Better: Skip excuses and accept responsibility, even if your client seems to be a complete techno-idiot. He's paying, right? "I am so sorry you were inconvenienced when you attempted to order from us. Thank you for making us aware of this problem. We will discuss the situation with our web designers in our next meeting. Meanwhile, please download a complimentary Special Report on a related topic." 2. Stealing home with disguised sales pitches. Clients sign up for a teleclass hyped as "Secrets of helping you make thousands of dollars with low effort. A content-rich teleclass that will change your life." After dialing to the other end of the planet, and maybe paying a fee, they hear an hour-long sales pitch for a book, coaching program or four-figure seminar. Better: Nothing wrong with a brief sales pitch. But if you're adding value during the class, you may not need one! Prospective clients listen to the way you answer questions. They want to see if you're really delivering creative solutions or serving up recycled content that's about as tempting than soggy fries reheated in a microwave. 3. Throwing a curve ball. You're supposed to throw curves to your opponents - not your teammates. And your clients ultimately join your team. So why would you toss a teammate a curveball? Throwing a curve ball means offering the client a service he had no reason to expect - and probably never wanted. Client wants a marketing plan - so you ask about negative thoughts, fears and self-defeating beliefs. Client wants a sales strategy - so you ask a lot of "what do you think" questions and talk about accountability. Clarify outcomes and deliverables the client can expect to obtain. Be especially clear on the difference between consulting, coaching, mentoring and spiritual guidance. Expecting one and getting another can feel like a ball's landed right between your eyes. 4. Holding out your foot to trip the runner. Ouch! You'd never do this, I hope! "I sent Coach Elrod a draft of my website copy to see if I was on the right track. He told me he would charge my credit card an extra $35 for editing. When I said no, he shrugged and said he'd keep the editing to himself. I never asked for editing! I just wanted a quick overview - I was still drafting copy. " Better: This one's a no-brainer! Ask what the client wants. Warn about charges ahead of time. . And once he blundered ahead, refusing to show the client the edited work suggests that he and the client are opponents, not teammates. This is a true story. Up to then, Elrod's client thought Elrod walked on water. Never mind who generated the misunderstanding. That thirty-five dollars cost Elrod the client's goodwill, future coaching calls and countless referrals. And let's hope Elrod didn't go ahead and put the charge through. We don't want to go there. 5. Getting the players mixed up. When clients pay for one-on-one consultation, they expect you to remember their names, their positions and their quirks. "X kept talking about building my confidence. Confidence isn't my problem. If I were any more confident, I'd be more arrogant than Don Rickles." "Y suggested I complete an assignment before our next meeting. When we got together, she'd forgotten the whole thing." "Z kept referring to 'your experience in advertising.' I never worked in advertising! That must have been another client!" Better: When you can't keep your clients straight, you need fewer clients or a better filing system. And just because most of your clients have confidence problems, this one doesn't mean this client does! Bottom line: We could come up with dozens of examples of client-killing errors. The bad news is that mistakes are inevitable, simply by the nature of service delivery. The good news is that correcting a mistake can create a new bond with your client, firmer and longer-lasting than the original. Example: When you miss the mark on a call, you can say: "Thanks for sharing your feelngs so honestly. I want to give you real value. We can schedule a make-up to focus on whatever you need." The make-up might be only half an hour, rather than the original full hour. The client may even say, "Don't bother - I expect an occasional mismatch." But you'll earn enormous goodwill for making the effort. Focus on recovery and you'll win loyalty every time. This article is based on "Delight your clients and keep more of their money" http://www.cathygoodwin.com/custsvc.html ************************************************************
Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., wrote Making the Big Move (New
Harbinger 1999). She works with professionals who are tossing and turning over a career decision and need a coach to help them brainstorm a solution.
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Why Great Companies Survey: Martian Logic! If an alien civilization from Mars was planning a friendly takeover of our planet they would seek to make sure they understood our way of life and our way of thought.The only way they could accomplish their objective would be by asking questions which they could genuinely understand and then plan a strategy accordingly. 10 Packaging Tips That Will Make Consumers Buy Your Product The customer is king/queen. We have all heard this mantra. Non Products Exist in this World "Both the market and the distributive channel are often more crucial than the product. Products are within the business as the accountants define it. Creative Emulation In business we have a number of ways or tools that we use to stimulate improvement. Most of us could recite these in our sleep:? Brainstorming? Benchmarking? Problem solvingWhen these things fail, or we realize that perhaps there are better ways to do these approaches, we do the next likely thing and hire a consultant. Qualify Prospects Using Direct Mail Marketing When a prospect responds to your lead generation sales letter, how do you know if the prospect is a qualified lead or not? By qualifying them before they respond.At my direct mail lead generation firm, our definition of a qualified lead is someone who meets four criteria:Authority: They have the authority to buy Readiness: They are ready to buy now Budget: They have the budget to buy Need: They need your product or serviceAnyone who meets some of these criteria but not all is simply a lead that needs to be cultivated. Your Plan For Marketing Success The most important, yet overlooked aspect of marketing is an actual written marketing plan A business simply cannot succeed without marketing. Whether you are a one person business or have 50 employees, you simply must have a marketing plan to succeed. A Seven Letter Word That Helped a 3 Month Marketing Newbie to Online Success Who would have thought that a three month newbie and marketing dummy with no list, no product, no contacts, can actually make money online? Me neither.I had no idea what to do, how to do or why. Private Practice Marketing: A Soaking Wet Marketing Marvel Last week I took our two boys on an all guy vacation to the Nickelodeon Family Suites Hotel in Orlando. It's the only one of it's kind in the world, with two separate mini-water parks on site, with a mall in the middle. GoogSpy: Business Counter Intelligence for Everyone So, you want to know what your competitors are up to these days, or maybe you want to research a keyword campaign that will rank you at the top of the heap for whatever product or service you're selling? Meet GoogSpy, a special search engine that not only shows you what Google AdWords your competitors are buying, but it will display all of the search terms that rank them in the top 10, PLUS it even displays their top 25 competitors.What search engine does it base all of its intelligence on? Well, with a name like GOOGspy, there can only be one. How to Avoid the Line Extension Trap If you follow the prevailing logic of most modern companies, you will inevitably fall into this trap. Line extension is using an existing brand name or image and extending it to new products. Creating Your Unique Selling Proposition or USP Creating Your Unique Selling Proposition"Don't tell them what you do. Tell them what you do for them. Business Leads Anyone who runs their own business can tell you how challenging it is to generate business leads on a consistent basis. Finding good leads and generating more sales is vital to the long term growth of any business. Promotions That Build Profit Promotions are everything you do to let your customers know you exist. Good marketing techniques can help eliminate the "I didn't knows" from your clients and would-be clients. When Designing Postcards, Aim for Refrigerator Door Mindshare If you want to design effective marketing postcards, then aim for "Refrigerator Door Mindshare." By this, I mean that you should create a card that someone would be proud to display on his or her refrigerator door. Mortgage Originator Marketing - Differentiate or Die One of the best ways to attract more clients is to quit marketing the same way your competitors do. Because when all mortgage originator marketing is essentially the same, it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish one loan officer from another. How To Let Your Customers Search For YOU! - Part 2 First I want to welcome you to part two of the article 'How To Let Customers Search for YOU!', where you can learn how to attract new clients at any time you want. The techniques I describe here have proofed to work for me and a lot of other people. Does Your Marketing Plan Need Changing? Change is good, right? Not always. But when is it bad? Is it a question of good or bad? Sounds philosophical. Don't Put All Of Your Eggs Into One Basket I vaguely remember a particular story from my childhood. It had something to do with transporting eggs to market. Beyond Repair: The Fixed-price Model Don't get me wrong. I certainly don't think the majority of vendors who use a fixed-price model are trying to rip you off. 5 Tips to Heat Up Your On-Line Marketing Using Off-Line Tactics The internet of course brings a huge arena of marketing opportunities for you. The ability to do business with people around the world has now been made readily available through a web site and email.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2000 |