At the core of every great break up, is at least one person who feels the other person didn’t work hard enough. Or maybe the thought never crossed their mind, because they were too busy being wowed by someone else, who simply tried harder.
Today’s post is about never losing that “Lovin Feeling” with your clients:
1) Surprise Them!
I hate to admit this, but I’m like a little kid when it comes to surprises!
I order my shirts from Paul Frederick and they aren’t cheap. Every now and again, without warning, they will include a tie with my shirt order.
I’m a frequent guest at the Omni Hotel and they have the surprise thing down pretty well. One evening they sent fresh fruit up to my room, one morning it was some orange juice and bottled water.
Here’s the point, it doesn’t have to be a million dollar, give away the store thing, just get in the habit of surprising your clients.
And while I’m up on my soapbox, when was the last time you surprised your significant other? I thought so! Make a note to surprise people in your personal life too!
2) Find A Way to “Wow” Them When You Screw Up.
Everything you ever heard about Disney is true! I should know, I stayed there for 10 days with my family back in 2006.
We went to a dinner show one night and the waitress was visibly hustling from table to table.
Somewhere in the mix, she forgot my son’s lemonade. When she returned to our table, my son very respectfully called it to her attention. She immediately apologized (doesn’t that have a way of immediately diffusing a situation?) and said “Wait until you see how we fix things when we make mistakes at Disney”.
What happened next blew my mind. She returned with an entire pitcher of lemonade (complete with a very cool straw and glow cubes).
So let me see if I get this. What was once a mistake has now turned into a “Wow”? Here’s the best part, I figure that between telling that story to everyone I’ve trained since then and mentioning it in my blog, this story has reached a ton of people.
I can see the Mastercard commercial now . . .
Price for the lemonade: $2.00, Way Cool Straw & Glow Cubes: $2.00 Wowing a disappointed customer and getting word of mouth advertising from his blogaholic Dad . . . Priceless Baby!
3) Make Your Client Look Like A Rock Star To Their Boss, Team, Clients, Etc.
Think about it. Who doesn’t need some good press these days?
One of the best ways for you to do this is to proactively go to your client with ideas and resources.
By the way, ideas and resources shouldn’t always require payment. This is one of the many ways you and I provide this thing everyone keeps regurgitating called “value”.
Now if you are among the clueless who think everyone is already doing this, then make it a habit of asking this question in your Needs Analysis by asking;
“When was the last time your sales rep came to you (proactively) with an idea?”
Get ready for a head tilt as they try to remember. .
4) Be A Breath Of Fresh Air!:
File this one under “I’m just sayin” but business folk can be wound way too tight these days.
At times its just way too freakin serious. We’ve forgotten to put “laugh and lighten up” on our To Do lists!
Assignment: Go down to the card store and pick out a few funny greeting cards to send your clients.
If you can’t find one, then at least pick up a cool thank you card and simply thank them for being your client. How about putting together a rock star kit for them complete with cool shades, a cd, an all access pass to your business along with a card that reads “You’re always a rock star to us”
The next time you take them to lunch, perhaps there’s someplace different you could take them. Change it up and by all means STOP having the same sh*tty date.
Sales Managers: Have a sales meeting in the near future and brainstorm ways for everyone to be that “Breath of Fresh Air” to their clients. Oh, and if you can’t think of anything, your competitor probably will.
Relationship Note From Uncle Paul: Most relationships fail when that spark packs up and leaves.
Don’t ever forget the days of the courtship before the marriage . . .
You know, when we actually tried to do cool things to get to that “I do”.
Relationships require continual effort and they can never be left to run on auto pilot!
Note: I asked out “Mrs Uncle Paul” in 1983 and we’ve been “dating” ever since!
5) Better Relationships Require Better Communication.
Ridiculously obvious sales advice in 3,2,1 . . .
The key to better communication is in asking better questions
Most sales reps make it through the Needs Analysis part of the process with barely a passing grade and then they stop asking thought provoking questions as if they’re saying “But I already did that step”
You have to continually ask the questions nobody else asks!
You have to get them thinking, get them sharing and maybe, just maybe, you and I can ascend to “Trusted Advisor” status. Only this time, its for real because we know all their dirty little secrets and have become their confidence.
Let your competition try and have a go at your client once you reach that status!
In the book of used and abused sales axioms (between “Feel, Felt and “Find” and “Sales is a numbers game”) is a saying that
“People buy difference”
If in fact, this used and abused saying is true, then . . .
What is your difference?
How do you make the customer experience better?
And how do you turn on the Barry White and show them the love?
Perhaps its time we treat our client like the hot date everyone is trying to hit on!
Would You Like My Formula For GROWING Your Accounts?
I’m going to share it during our How To GROW Your Existing Accounts webinar on February 22nd, at 11:30 am EST.
Here’s what you’ll gain by joining your peers for this webinar;
- How To Get The Inside Track On New Opportunities.
- How To Expand To Other Divisions, Locations Etc.
- A Meeting Format That Opens Your Client (and all the stakeholders) Up To New Ideas.
- How To Sell Change.
- A 3 Step Questioning Technique That Helps Safeguard Your Accounts, Generate MORE Business, Testimonials and Referrals.
- How To Get Access To Other Stakeholders Without Offending Your Contact.
- How To Add Value Via Ideas, Surprises and Resources.
- How To Create A “Keep In Touch” Plan Without Defaulting To “Calling To Check In”.
When?
February 22nd at 11:30 am EST and if you can’t make it I’ll send you the webinar replay.
What Do You Get?
(1) 90 Minute Webinar
Worksheets
Webinar Replay (In case you can’t make it or you’d like to go back for seconds)
How Much?
$99
