Step into your clients' shoes!
Have you ever gotten caught up in your own marketing material to the point that you begin believing that you’re indispensable to your clients? It’s happened to every business owner I know.
A client leaves, a contract isn’t won, a negotiation goes south and the management team is left looking at each other wondering why? The internal discussion quickly shifts to recapping all of the great things that your company has to offer, all of the things you’ve been doing right and all of the services that you provide. Yet, they still left or didn’t buy…why? You’re focused in the wrong direction…you shouldn’t be focused on you…you have to be focused on THEM!
Clients don’t buy from companies, they buy from people. Quite often the reason for a client’s seemingly irrational behavior (our perception) stems from THEIR perception of our company and the people they’re working with at our company. Your client’s perception IS your reality!
When was the last time you tried to do business with your company?
Have you, or someone you trust, tried calling your company and asking questions as a prospect? If you’re in retail you should be using mystery callers or shoppers. Have the mystery shopper through the ENTIRE sales process including returns or creating a customer service issue that needs to be resolved.
If you’re in a professional service business go through the intake procedure, see how long it takes to get the requested information, how is it presented and what’s the follow-up?
The result of these activities: finding out if doing business with you difficult. The more complicated, convoluted, difficult or any place where poor customer service is encountered, the more like the customer, client or prospect will go elsewhere. And if they go elsewhere they will gladly tell everyone they know why they left or why they didn’t do business with you.
Does your business deliver on the marketing promises you make?
Does your brochure say one thing, your website another and your sales people something else? Clients and prospects are smart, educated and in search of a specific solution. If they begin to believe that you’re unable to deliver or that you are already demonstrating inconsistencies in the sales process…the more skittish they’ll be and the more unlikely they’ll be to trust their business to you.
According the the Better Business Bureau, the more a business can develop and reinforce trust with their customers the stronger the relationship and the longer the relationship.
When was the last time you surveyed your clients?
Another inexpensive way to get feedback is by using email, website and even postcards as a way to survey the customers. Look for three things in your surveys:
~ What are we doing well? (this leads to testimonials you can use)
~ What can we improve upon? (this leads to improvements and even cost savings)
~ Are there products/services that you need that we should be offering?
The information in just these three basic topic areas, especially the third one, has led to the creation of entire new product lines and in fact spin off businesses. These are stories for another column.
Take some time, put yourself in your client’s shoes and see how you stack up against your current perceptions of yourself. I’m willing to bet there are differences that you can fix to make yourself stronger and more profitable.
Always remember, their perception is your reality, make it good.
Bob Holdsworth is the founder of The Holdsworth Group. He is a successful entrepreneur and a marketing and business growth consultant who specializes in getting his clients and their businesses UN-stuck .If you want to learn how to “Do business on your own terms!®, you want to talk to Bob. He is also the author of several nationally published articles, a sought after speaker, a veteran paramedic, a very happily married husband, the dad of two awesome twin boys, a dangerous golfer, avid reader, and is severely allergic to neckties.
Bob can be reached at bob@holdsworth.com
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