Do You Think Like Your Client?
Are you the type of business that communicates your client results, or do you only talk about your business processes? I have found that most successful global small businesses have the attitude that a sale is the beginning of a life-long relationship with a client. These small businesses KNOW the results they bring their clients, and they know their clients intimately, so to speak. Their every need is anticipated, and they sell solutions to their individual client s specific problems. The client is KING, and the product or service, is a means to an end. That end being a RAVING testimonial and the constant satisfaction of the client s own unique needs and values.
Now the problem that I find with my clients who struggle to attract local or global clients, is that they talk about the process of what they do, not what they really do for their clients. There is a huge distinction here, and that distinction is costing them, and perhaps you, lots of potential new clients. When I hear a small business owner say, “My accounting firm has been in business X amount of years, and we offer the typical accounting services blah blah blah”, it sends up a red flag for me. It tells me that these people don t really know what they DO for their clients. They clearly are not connected enough to their client base to see what their client truly values.
Hate to say this, but nobody really cares about your business processes. Until you can tell a client what s in it for them to work with you, they won t pay attention to you very long. Now, there is nothing wrong with you if you have been doing this wrong, but you ll want to fix your marketing message quickly.
You may have heard of the phrase “features vs. benefits”, but have never really known what it meant. Let s learn it now, OK? An example of a product s feature is its color, size, etc. An example of a benefit or result is the solution it brings you. It helps you save money, it takes away the pain, etc. An example of a business process is a tax preparation, spinal adjustments, selling candles, building a home, etc.
As you stay open to learning, I want you to expand your inner capability to think and see “new ways” of what your client values and, in turn understand what they really get from you. For example: As an American, we value speaking up. Americans tend to not beat around the bush, get to the bottom line, and ask for the sale immediately. That s why slogans are critical. With other cultures, this is just not the case:
*Japanese value saving face. The main goal is not to exchange information. Maintaining harmony is the overriding goal of the client communication.
*South-Africans value formality in dress and speech to promote good client relationships.
*Hungarians value understanding the past. Using historical context is important, in order to describe the present benefit of your service.
I could keep going, since I love cultures so much. But you get my point. Different cultures will require you to have different client-centered marketing.
If you want new and better client-centered marketing, change the way you think and feel about your product, your service, your process and the way you do business with new prospects. You can make that picture a lot better than you may think right now. Make a list of the top 10 reasons, values, motivators, results or benefits that make your target audience buy from you. Now, not every thing you listed will fit your business, but it will help you narrow down your client s motivators. And once you know what motivates them to buy from you, you can use that message in every piece of marketing you own.
Kim Schott, your Global Client Communication Expert, is the author of the Keys to Client Communication System, the step-by-step, paint by numbers client attraction program to attract more clients in less time. To receive your weekly how-to articles on consistently attracting more local and global clients in less time, visit http://www.SchottCulturalConsulting.com
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Getting A Handle On Employee Satisfaction
Is employee satisfaction important? Does it really matter if I look for ways to satisfy employees within my organization? Aren t there more important things I can be doing?
Those are good questions, and deserve an answer. For five years at the 400 bed hospital where I worked, I was involved in training new employees in our plan for customer satisfaction. As part of that training, I began each class talking with the orientees about the things they considered important as customers of the company. It was interesting, and the answers were very consistent. Over those five years money was always in the top ten, but it was also never above number six! Interesting, huh? Most of the clients I work with now (business executives) would place it at number one or two, but that s not so with their employees.
Looking for Number One
What was number one? In over 150 informal surveys taken during those sessions, the answer listed over 100 times as most important to employees was “respect from my boss”. Respect. Now why would that be considered so important? These new staff told me about jobs they d had where, even after years of experience, they were never asked how things could be improved. It was particularly frustrating when the company was loud about it s policies (customer satisfaction, quality, service, etc.) but staff were faced daily with broken processes that made such policies difficult - or impossible.
Built-In Headaches
And that s the reason good employees leave. People who want to do a good job are especially irritated by recurrent problems on a job. That kind of problem is a built-in headache, often occurring every single time a certain process is followed. What s the starting activity a good leader can do to begin eliminating such problems and raising morale? LISTEN! Make it a regular habit to listen to employees about the issues they re facing - then DO something about it.
Gotta Do Both
Now those two steps together are important. If you just listen and don t act on what you hear, people will not only stop talking, but their faith in you will disappear. On the other hand, if you act on what you see as problems without listening to the “players”, your fixes will not address the key details of the problem, and you will likely cause anger and disillusionment, and likely make things even worse. Very soon people will begin looking elsewhere for work.
What s It Cost?
When a good employee leaves, you ve got a basketful of steps to go through to replace him or her, and productivity among other staff will drop while you re doing it. In fact, if a $10 an hour employee leaves, and it takes 45 days for you to fill that position, your actual loss in dollars is going to be $802.51 - and that doesn t include losses in sales or services. So what happens when you both listen to and apply what you hear from your staff? You ll find that your company will not only become more productive, but customers will be happier, spirits will rise, your profits will get better, AND you ll keep your good employees. Try it - it s worth it.
The author of this article, Tim Connor, is president and founder of Rodeo! Performance Group, Inc., an Ocala-based group of facilitators who specialize in healthcare related organizations.
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