OK, you won’t get far in winning work without seeing your prospective clients face-to-face but I’m on 6 flights this week and that’s probably too many? It’s unproductive (even with a BlackBerry) and bad for the environment.

Luckily I have a great team delivering our client work, meaning I can spend some of my time telling the world what we do but how often and at what points in an engagement do you need to work face-to-face with your clients?

Yes there are some great tools for communicating, but that face-to-face thing can’t really be replaced. There’s only one thing for it. I’ll just have to try to encourage all the decision makers to move to Scotland….

As another year winds to an end, there is much to reflect on. The recession and economy has dictated adjustments be made. Some minor, some major. Instead of finding fault with the world and crawling under a rock, I thought it fitting to acknowledge some of the good that has come out of this year’s tumultuous journey.

What do I have to thank the recession for?

Valuable relationships. So much of social media today is focused on generating new clients and leads. The value in your business is not new leads. It’s in the relationships with existing clients. Existing clients are willing to sacrifice to keep your product or services. They adapt and make adjustments for you; especially if you’ve gone out of your way to truly value the relationship.

Clarity. There is nothing like a tight budget to keep you focused on the importance of efficiency. Knowing what to keep and what to part with. Knowing how to keep things simple, clear and concise. We’ve stayed true to our name and philosophy of “simplicity.”

Innovation. Thinking outside the box is not a cliché. It is imperative when money is tight, your clients’ needs change and your resources are limited. You have to know how to make changes and adjustments to your business without sacrificing your integrity. How you handle adversity speaks volumes.

Rejuvenation. “Knowledge is power” has never been truer. New knowledge, when applied, is rejuvenating. You almost always see immediate results. Knowledge also comes from a variety of sources: classes, books, magazines, blogs, the Internet etc.  It can also be as simple as a conversation with an elder, a coach, a mentor, a colleague or a friend. Never underestimate the value of good conversation and free information.

And you. My readers, followers, encouragers, connections, associates and friends; with all that you have dealt with this year, you continue to find value in my work and you support me with your counsel, comments, confidence and referrals. Thank you.

Now, please share with me what you have to thank the recession for? … Please post your comments below.

Submitted by A.Michelle Blakeley

Simplicity, Inc. |Because you don’t have time to waste.™ |866.927.5888 x1

Do you and your business need a radical and rapid transformation? Don’t wait, start NOW! … http://tinyurl.com/smallbizaudit

Copyright Notice: Visitors to the Simplicity Mastered™ website may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material found on the website in any form without the express written consent of Simplicity, Inc.. For all requests for use of copyrighted material from the Simplicity Mastered™ website, please contact amichelleblakeley@yahoo.com

If you’re in business, generally you sell a product or a service.  That product or service, based on a multitude of factors, is received by consumers in some experiential way.  On one end of the continuum, you have a “commodity.”  You can get it at a number of places, it’s pretty much the same wherever you get it.  “Goods” come next as you move up the curve.  There’s a way to differentiate those goods from your competitors through content or through delivery.  Next comes “Service” which has a continuum all of its own – from poor to excellent.  Finally comes an “Experience.”  The Experience may involve a product and/or a service, but it goes beyond the traditional commerce of buy and sell.  The consumer leaves that transaction with a memory, or an impression, or an emotion.  Disney World, for example, offers lots of products and services; most people, however, will tell you that what they love most about it is “the experience” (e.g. I lost my camera and not only did the park find the camera and return it to my hotel, but they presented me with a Disney frame to use after I print pictures.)  If you’re in charge of HR – or have some influence on how it provides goods and services to your employees – take a moment to assess whether your practice is closer to providing a commodity or an experience.  Just to be clear: providing timely paychecks, keeping people benefited, creating a safe and fair workplace, managing annual evaluations, responding to employee questions - those are commodities.  You do those things extremely well, and you’ll be luck to get “duh” out of your employees. 

When someone has a negative experience with HR, they’ll tell everyone.  When someone has a neutral experience with HR, they’ll tell no one.  When someone has a “difference making” experience, they’ll become your champion.  Let the goods and services be your platform, but make the experience your niche.

If panels and data-bases are getting better at telling us the “whats” of the world, and improved qualitative and new nuero-science techniques are getting better at the “whys” (see my last post), then what’s left for the old-school ad hoc survey? Well obviously it can be argued that where representative samples are needed to establish incidence or opinion, well-designed surveys will always be pre-eminent. There is some truth in this, but perhaps not enough of such studies to maintain a global MR industry! The real future of the survey is in recognising and playing to three key strengths:

1. Context and exploration. Surveys, imaginatively used, can cover a huge amount of ground cost-effectively. But this breadth of possibility is too often used as an excuse for questionnaires that lack focus. Many surveys still try and do too much, in too little depth, using poorly worded questions to tackle issues that are ill-defined. The real strength of a survey is in being able to explore an issue in-depth and in context.  As a simple example of context, consider “social networking” – new software, improved theoetical frameworks and the design advantages of online surveys should be resulting in hundreds of mainstream applications for this concept. But most social network studies are still in either the obvious/easy category (e.g. social media), or specialised (e.g. Pharma) categories. Mainstream applications that merge social network analysis with analytics of behavioural patterns (for example, pre-store influences on shopping behaviour) are under-explored. But it is in areas like this that the survey’s ability to question people about the wider context of their social lives can generate new kinds of insights. Unfortunately, to properly explore the likes of pre-purchase influences on consumers lives we need to improve the design of questionnaires and focus them around that single business issue – not to try and include every possible question anyone might ask about a category or brand. We also have to deliver findings that delve into the data to see how social networks, attitudes, behaviours and lifestyles really interact. Such analysis is often claimed, but too seldom delivered.

2. Triangulation. The future of the survey may not be as simple stand-alone services. The most powerful ad hoc survey  (in diagnostic terms), I have ever utilised was when working with a  “product” that we had explicitly designed to use survey information to complement panel, sales and qualitative data. This was not just a matter of presenting the data-sets alongside each other, but of designing integrated measures and explicitly using the strengths of each methodology to tell a complete story. Combining survey data seamlessly with other data-sets is clearly of interest to many clients, but it remains a challenge. To do this properly is not just a software or statistical issue (as some seem to think), but requires investment in R&D to create consistent systems for comparing and reporting such information and in finding people with the skills to integrate and interpret such data. Tight budgets make tackling this extra hard, but the potential rewards are huge.

3. Flexibility and responsiveness. Many MR companies are now capable of turning around surveys very quickly. Yet this speed is not necessarily being exploited. Most surveys these days (some opinion polling excepted), either periodically track pre-set themes/questions, or wait for a client to define a problem and respond to it. This reflects the traditional “ad hoc” nature of the survey and results, usually, in a lot of post-event analytics trying to explain the past. There is no need for this to happen this way – tracking, panel or retail studies can be set up so that certain criteria trigger analysts to launch ad hoc surveys. A new brand getting unusually high up-take, the first signs of decline in brand equity or a change in behaviour of a key market segment – potentially any “interesting event” that a currency or tracking study throws up can act as an agreed trigger that launches a custom survey investigation. Similarly agencies could consider new models of syndication, producing not one large “standardised” study of a market every year but a series of investigations that are timed to respond dynamically to changes in the marketplace and provide in-depth coverage of key issues as they emerge. Yes, this implies agencies finding new ways of forging relationships with research buyers, and new pricing models – but potentially very worthwhile ones for both sides?

There are many other possible advantages of the ad hoc survey, of course. And there will always be a place for a short, sharp basic survey asking about an opinion or attitude. Unfortunately a large chunk of current global MR revenue is still derived from surveys that are definitively basic in approach but, alas, are neither short, nor sharp. There is no real future in this.

To change, as an industry, we have to tackle the core problem of creating more interest in survey-based services that can deliver on the three advantages above. This will take some investment in strategic analysis and more imaginative approaches. Then, to actually deliver, we need to start equipping researchers with the research frameworks and – more importantly – the mental tools to design more efficient, focussed questionnaires, and to creatively delve into data for insights. None of this is easy, but as long as our approach to designing, marketing and handling custom surveys is determinedly ad hoc, we will tend to deliver research that is inconsistent and of marginal profitability. Change is therefore vital, and will yield real competitive advantages to the companies that are brave enough to make the effort.

Today I was suddenly reminded that many SEO companies are wolves in very thin, extremely wolflike Sheep’s clothing.

I don’t say that to be belligerent, or to draw the trolls to my doorstep, but guys, seriously: I know you’re trying to make a buck like the rest of us, but can you at least let the graphic designer finish his work before you start slandering it to the client? I recently have been wrapping up a design that we here at Third Tree are very proud of, a Christmas Lighting Installation company in Orange County. We’re still dropping pictures and components into place when one of the owners (don’t get me wrong, they’re the greatest guys ever- it isn’t their fault) showed the work-in-progress to his insurance guy, whose nephew’s cousin’s brother-in-law’s former roomate (or something) did SEO for his site.

Santa's Helpers Lighting

I never release a site until it has at least the most rudimentary SEO done, and I didn’t know how to react to this guy’s offer to “help out” (I know that phrase. It means “let me convince you I’m better than your current guy”) and my poor client just wants a well-ranked site, so what’s a designer to do?

All the sites I design ALWAYS make page 1 on Google; only 3 have failed to break into the top 3 because of those positions being dominated by 800-pound industry gorillas (mom-and-pop shops are hard-pressed to come up against a web titan like Samsung or Apple). There’s a whole list of things to do before the site is “done” and even then, done isn’t really ever “done.” With that track record, why then do the customers doubt? Several things come to mind, but the major one (in this case) is that the site was barely 3 weeks old, not generally enough time to age properly in the Google Index Winevat.

How would you handle this? You don’t want to appear defensive, you don’t want to re-slander the other guy (if you have any morals, anyway) and it certainly isn’t the client’s fault, so I simply asked for time to finish the project before dragging someone into the backend of the site to fiddle with my hard work. Basically, I’m stalling for enough time to prove that my SEO formula works (it’s conservative, and slower than other methods, but it WORKS) and I’m always open to suggestions, but I’m kinda at a loss for why I feel like my toes have been trod on. Mybe I’m uncertain that the client trusts my method, maybe I’m just being territorial.

I’m open to suggestions and constructive criticism here

The other day I overheard an HR professional talking with her colleague about an employee who had missed the deadline to file their benefits enrollment.  Her comment was, “we aren’t here to hold their hands, (explitive); they should learn to follow instructions.”  There was a time in my HR career when I would have agreed with her.  Of course we’d like our employees to be more self-sufficient.  Of course we’d prefer to give them the paperwork and send them on their merry way.  I don’t care how strategic you want your HR department to be, I don’t care how much you want to be “at the table,” the bread and butter of what we do – at least for the forseeable future - entails making the lives of our employees easier so they can focus on what they are paid to do.   Saying “we shouldn’t have to hold their hands” is just a cheap way of saying, “I don’t want to do my job.”  In fact, you don’t have the right to even yearn to be more strategic if you can’t point to the administrative side of your business and honestly say “I got that shop in order.”  When’s the last time you measured your customer service scores?  Do you even have a customer satisfaction survey?  No, an annual employee commitment or engagement survey doesn’t count.  Until you can confidently say your employees leave the majority of their interactions with the HR department with a big fat smile on their face, until you can say you make it easier for your employees to go about their day jobs, until you can say your customer service scores rival those of the best call centers around, stop day-dreaming about the board room.  Because even if you get there, you won’t stay there for long.

And by the way, it doesn’t matter if you are an HR coordinator or an HR Executive – “hand-holding” should be on your job description and you should take it seriously.

How serious are you with marketing and growing your business? Let’s find out right here and now. First of all, when is the last time that you sent out an email to your current database? Do you have a blog or newsletter that you can send to new leads and potential clients? Neither of these cost a lot money, but will cost you a time and effort.

You don’t have to be a marketing guru to implement solid marketing techniques with a little bit of effort. Nor do you have to spend a lot of money on engaging marketing professionals. We all have to start somewhere. If your budget is limited or non-existent, try implementing some of the following techniques.

NOTE: Be sure to measure your progress by checking your stats and tracking your inquiries.

Before you begin, ensure your marketing message is clear and consistent. Know who your audience (client profile) is. And have a way of tracking and following-up with leads and inquiries. For examples of free contact management resources that allow you make notes about your leads or clients, track emails, etc. try freecrm.com and highrisehq.com

• Establish new connections: How many social networking sites are you actively participating on? Try to do a minimum of 5. With each one, make it a point to respond to postings, add your own postings (for efficiency, it’s okay to use the same article for each site), and establish new connections. Go one step further and make referrals to your connections. As you are able to manage the minimum of 5, add a new site per month or every 90 days or whatever time frame is comfortable for you.

• Blog your way to new leads: Write articles on topics that your clients and prospects want to hear and learn about. If you are not a writer, provide 3 to 5 tips on how to do something. Be consistent with your postings. It can be daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. Select whatever time frame frequency you can realistically post something. The most important thing is to do it consistently. Don’t think you have enough tips to post? Try sharing articles, discussions or other blogs about current events that relate to your clients.

• Take your show on the road: Present a teleclass or webinar on something that you are knowledgeable or an expert about. You can host free informational sessions, where prospective clients can get a sneak preview of your products/services and existing clients can hear about new products/services. You can host a signature session (same session monthly, quarterly, etc.) or a series of sessions. Find something unique to you and your business.

The objective is to find a marketing technique that you are comfortable with and master it, be consistent with it and own it. Start learning how to turn your processes into products and services. Start learning how to share your expertise so that others know how and where to find you when they need you. Start learning how to give your services away without giving away the kitchen sink (… stay tuned for that article). Whatever the state or condition of your business, learn how to market your products and services on your own terms, in your own way. Continue to do what works and stop doing what doesn’t.

Submitted by A.Michelle Blakeley

Simplicity, Inc. |Because you don’t have time to waste.™ |866.927.5888 x1

Ask about our PROVEN Coaching and Mentoring Services.

Copyright Notice: Visitors to the Simplicity Mastered™ website may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material found on the website in any form without the express written consent of Simplicity, Inc.. For all requests for use of copyrighted material from the Simplicity Mastered™ website, please contact amichelleblakeley@yahoo.com

Andrew Lawson - Business Coach

 By Andrew Lawson www.bestpracticeconsulting.com.au

Businesses are often complacent about securing new and better quality clients, so that their development activities are minimal, or are not targeted to specific clients. Business development strategies are a key area to get right if you are striving to grow your client base or wish to discover ways to attract better quality clients.

Business development involves taking action so that it is better able to meet the needs of clients. This implies that your business:

• has assessed the general and specific needs of clients
• uses targeted business development strategies linked to specific needs
• has ways of working that make clients feel comfortable and that address their specific needs
• is open to regular feedback
• is committed to continuous improvement.

Why use business development strategies?

Most businesses would agree that they primarily undertake business development strategies to grow their client lists and their revenue (= quantitative growth) and/or to get better at what they do (= qualitative growth). The most effective way to achieve both forms of growth is by focusing on meeting the needs of your clients. In a business development sense, meeting client needs is good for business because happy clients will return to your business time and time again. This builds repeat revenue. They will also usually refer people they know to the business, which in turn fuels word-of-mouth marketing and builds revenue further. In addition, feedback from clients continues to raise the bar in terms of quality.

So how do you undertake business development?

To ensure that you get the right clients for your practice the following four-step process is useful to consider.

Step 1: understand client needs 

Generally speaking all clients have four basic needs: to (a) be understood; (b) feel welcome; (c) feel important and (d) feel comfortable. However, there are a multitude of specific needs for people of different ages, sex, ethnicity, etc. Each of these needs must be catered for. The best way to determine your client needs is to ask them via client detail forms, one-on-one discussion and client surveys.  

Step 2: Align services with client needs

Once you fully understand client needs you need to link them to your business products or services using communication strategies, so that in the client’s mind their needs have been addressed. For example, if you run a medical practice a portion of your clients may regularly travel overseas so you could offer a travel vaccine service or a medical assessment service to address this need. The key business development function here is to let clients know about this service that aligns with their need.

Step 3: Provide services and an experience that meet or exceed client expectations

Team members need to be involved, empowered and trained to understand client needs and respond accordingly. Business owners and managers play a vital role in ensuring the team has clear guidance of what to do and why. Standardise the way you work so that you perform at a consistently high level. Make use of an office manual and use this as a resource for facilitating shared understanding. Always work on trying to exceed client expectations as part of your continuous improvement strategy.

Step 4: Determine whether client needs have been met

Ways to determine if client needs have been met include face-to-face meetings, follow-up phone calls or client satisfaction surveys.

Client satisfaction surveys allow for the collection and analysis of a large number of responses. Your survey should have specific questions about their needs, whether these needs are met, areas for improvement, etc. If you run a business which receives referrals, it is essential to survey clients and referrers as it is important understand the needs of both parties and to foster both relationships.

Once you have analysed your results share these with the team for their thoughts and feedback. Clients and staff may come up with a number of areas for action which affect business development, such as introducing new or improved services, changing staff attitudes to be more client focused, or using more effective written and verbal language to communicate with clients.

In conclusion
It is essential that business development focuses on meeting the needs of clients. Business development binds together all aspects of your workplace and is part of everyone’s role within the team. It is something we should all aspire to do on a day-to-day basis.

Businesses are often complacent about securing new and better quality clients, so that their development activities are minimal, or are not targeted to specific clients. Business development strategies are a key area to get right if you are striving to grow your client base or wish to discover ways to attract better quality clients.

Business development involves taking action so that it is better able to meet the needs of clients. This implies that your business:

• has assessed the general and specific needs of clients
• uses targeted business development strategies linked to specific needs
• has ways of working that make clients feel comfortable and that address their specific needs
• is open to regular feedback
• is committed to continuous improvement.

Why use business development strategies?

Most businesses would agree that they primarily undertake business development strategies to grow their client lists and their revenue (= quantitative growth) and/or to get better at what they do (= qualitative growth). The most effective way to achieve both forms of growth is by focusing on meeting the needs of your clients. In a business development sense, meeting client needs is good for business because happy clients will return to your business time and time again. This builds repeat revenue. They will also usually refer people they know to the business, which in turn fuels word-of-mouth marketing and builds revenue further. In addition, feedback from clients continues to raise the bar in terms of quality.

So how do you undertake business development?

To ensure that you get the right clients for your practice the following four-step process is useful to consider.

Step 1: understand client needs

Generally speaking all clients have four basic needs: to (a) be understood; (b) feel welcome; (c) feel important and (d) feel comfortable. However, there are a multitude of specific needs for people of different ages, sex, ethnicity, etc. Each of these needs must be catered for. The best way to determine your client needs is to ask them via client detail forms, one-on-one discussion and client surveys.

Step 2: Align services with client needs

Once you fully understand client needs you need to link them to your business products or services using communication strategies, so that in the client’s mind their needs have been addressed. For example, if you run a medical practice a portion of your clients may regularly travel overseas so you could offer a travel vaccine service or a medical assessment service to address this need. The key business development function here is to let clients know about this service that aligns with their need.

 Some strategies to deliver information to clients include the following: 

• Newsletters
• Websites
• Articles, reports and e-books

Step 3: Provide services and an experience that meet or exceed client expectations

Team members need to be involved, empowered and trained to understand client needs and respond accordingly. Business owners and managers play a vital role in ensuring the team has clear guidance of what to do and why. Standardise the way you work so that you perform at a consistently high level. Make use of an office manual and use this as a resource for facilitating shared understanding. Always work on trying to exceed client expectations as part of your continuous improvement strategy.

Step 4: Determine whether client needs have been met

Ways to determine if client needs have been met include face-to-face meetings, follow-up phone calls or client satisfaction surveys.

Client satisfaction surveys allow for the collection and analysis of a large number of responses. Your survey should have specific questions about their needs, whether these needs are met, areas for improvement, etc. If you run a business which receives referrals, it is essential to survey clients and referrers as it is important understand the needs of both parties and to foster both relationships.

Once you have analysed your results share these with the team for their thoughts and feedback. Clients and staff may come up with a number of areas for action which affect business development, such as introducing new or improved services, changing staff attitudes to be more client focused, or using more effective written and verbal language to communicate with clients.

In conclusion
It is essential that business development focuses on meeting the needs of clients. Business development binds together all aspects of your workplace and is part of everyone’s role within the team. It is something we should all aspire to do on a day-to-day basis.

I hate the reputation that HR carries as being a bunch of clock watchers.  I’ve come across a number of tweets around this lately (e.g. @Chorazin: @EchoLegacy Yeah, HR is normally a 8-5, weekdays only type department.)  I have to admit that the reputation is probably well deserved.  It discourages me when my own team locks the doors and turns the lights off at 17:00 on the dot.  I started staggering schedules so we’d at least have more visibility.  In today’s world of constant contact and remote capabilities, shouldn’t we tailor our availability to respond?  A couple of my managers have blackberries and they’re usually pretty good at responding to them.  But should we always have some one who is widely understood to be “on call”?  After all, IT does it…right?  I’m thinking this isn’t a bad idea…just another (simple) way to heighten our level of client service.  Most of you are probably saying “duh.”  Sorry..I’m still slow on the uptake.  Just wish I could find a way to keep a light on (literally and figuratively) in the HR department until every one else goes home.

I’ve come across several discussions re: HR’s unwillingness to provide timely responses to routine requests.  We may be better at using technology to put information at our employee’s finger tips, but that doesn’t give us an excuse for not treating them like…well, people.  Do we want to condition our employees to use on-line/self-service/HRIS resources more directly?  Of course.   But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hold their hands from time to time.  To some extent this falls under the heading of “you can’t win for trying” – we’re expected to leverage technology on one hand, but then asked to maintain the customer-centric focus on the other.  We’re not the only ones dealing with that dilemma, though.  Just ask your average call center manager.  One thing they’ll tell you for sure: higher user satisfaction scores come from 1) a timely response by a live individual, b) a knowledgeable person on the other end with information at their finger tips, and 3) closed cases - sending the caller off with answers.  Don’t be afraid to tell the employee “hey, you can get that stuff online at_____, but let me get it for you while you’ve got me.”  They are either going to respectfully decline and get the info themselves or they are going to patiently wait while you get it.  Either way, they leave satisfied.  I know, Customer Service 101……or is it?

To me  HR is all about one thing – optimizing the performance of people in organizations that are highly reliant upon human capital for their success.  All this talk over the years about “getting a seat at the table” becoming a “strategic partner of the business” is great…it’s helped move the needle for sure.  But I would argue that getting to the table is the easy part…staying there is the real test.  Forget all this lofty strategic thinking for a second; get back to focusing on the fundamentals of serving your customers – the operative core to any business dynamic.  HR’s clients are many, but above all else they are the employees.  Does it matter what the “Average Joe” is saying about HR?  If Joe is my client, damn right it matters…even if he has a completely warped sense of who we are and how things work.  HR Fishbowl is dedicated to surfacing and socializing what others are saying about HR primarily to heighten our awareness.  Most of it probably shouldn’t be taken too seriously.  All of it, though, should cause us to pause.  There will definitely be a negative slant to the matters we bring to a simmer…we don’t need another blog devoted to patting ourselves on the back.  So buckle up, strap on the chin-strap, and get ready to take your lumps…but do it with the understanding that knowing our clients better – just knowing how they may be thinking about us – only helps us to serve our purpose with distinction.

Throughout my career I have been known to use metaphors, analogies and personal stories when presenting information in meetings or when conducting individual training or coaching sessions.  A good example of my propensity to rely on these techniques is my approach to teaching the “Consultative” or “Experiential” approaches to sales and service.  I recently found an old copy of a blog I had written years ago on this topic and felt it could be a valuable tool for others to use when working with their own sales and service teams.   I updated the blog and am reposting it here.  This is an approach to coaching and training that has consistently helped me to develop outstanding sales and service representatives over the last 13+ years.

The concept is simple.  A consultative or experiential approach to sales or service can be compared to a bicycle. There are three main elements that must be present for a bike to work, just as there are three elements that must be present for a truly consultative sales experience.  I define these 3 key elements as follows:

1. The bike frame:  This is the backbone of a bicycle.  Without the frame, you can’t have a bike.  For sales the “frame” represents all of the elements of a conversation that must exist before a representative can even consider attempting to make a sale or solve a customer problem.  I personally assign the following list to the “frame” of the sales process: professionalism, rapport building, job knowledge, and agent empowerment.  Without any of these a sale or customer resolution can not be offered with any measurable amount of client satisfaction.
2. The 1st Wheel:  Everyone knows a bike has two wheels.  Without two wheels, you don’t have a bicycle.  In my coaching I relate the rear wheel (or 1st wheel) to the client needs and desires.  If you don’t truly understand the needs and desires of your clients you can not offer appropriate or effective solutions.  This is the true driver behind the consultative experience.  If you don’t have this wheel in motion you can not present yourself as a consultant to your client.
3. The 2nd Wheel:  This is obviously the front wheel.  In the consultative model it represents client objections.  There are always objections to sales, service, or problem resolution proposals.  Even when no objections are voiced a proficient representative will understand the client still has objections.  To maximize the impact of your sales presentation or proposed resolution to a client issue you must proactively identify the hidden objections and address them directly.

So now we have seen the basic elements of the consultative approach to client service and sales. Now lets look at the two wheels in a bit more detail. Below is a snapshot of the 1st Wheel. (The core to the entire strategy)

Finally it’s time to look at the 2nd Wheel, or in the case of sales and service, the client objections.

Due to the fact this is posted in a blog I have added just the core of consultative process. I hesitate to add additional detail for two reasons. First, I want to keep it brief for the blog. Second, the model will be more effective if the tactics utilized within the model are specific to your own situation. Take some time to digest the process and develop your own tactical implementation plan. I have used this model personally for sales of everything from mutual funds to service contracts to real estate. Try it in your organization if you want to support strong sales KPIs while maximizing client satisfaction. And if you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly.

The world is buzzing with “social media marketing” as the next big thing for direct marketing and advertising. But, what is social media marketing and how does it relate to your veterinary practice?

Social media is a way to interact with your existing and potential clients. There are all kinds of social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and blogging to name a few. Most social media is FREE and easy to use, with little to no experience or instruction.There are a few things to keep in mind when embarking into the world of social media:

• Social media is a form of marketing, but it is more about the interaction between people. In order for it to work for you and your clinic, you must be very “human” in your approach. If people feel the only reason you’re there is to try to sell something, they’ll get “turned off” rather quickly.
• Social media is more about “us” than “you”. Avoid talking only about your practice and what it has to offer. You need to mix that message with humor, news alerts, direct questions of your audience, and much more. Your client expects your Facebook page to be interactive with them. It should feel like a community, not a billboard.
• Don’t use Twitter to blast promotions and special offers! People will stop following you. Twitter should be used more for client service and news alerts than anything in a veterinary practice. You can drive clients to your blog or Facebook page by using a short headline followed by a link within your tweet. You should use your Twitter account to encourage clients to “talk” to you, encouraging them to request prescription refills, special order food, or even to ask a question. Clients who use Twitter this way feel they have a more direct connection to you and the practice.

Wondering where to begin? Facebook is a good place to start, as is Twitter. The two platforms even work rather well together. I highly recommend you use Facebook yourself, on a personal level before starting your clinic’s Facebook. This will help you become acclimated to the ins and out of Facebook, how it works and what others may be doing on Facebook. On your personal page, you can become a fan of Exceptional Veterinary Team, VetMedTeam, and even Broad Ripple Animal Clinic and Wellness Center.

There are several GREAT books available to read about social media. My favorites include: Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith; Six Pixels of Separation, by Mitch Joel; Twitter Power, by Joel Comm; and The New Rules of Marketing and PR, by David Meerman Scott. Still not sure how to proceed? Plan to attend VHMA’s Management Retreat in Cocoa Beach, FL in late January 2010. I will be speaking on this topic and sharing lots of tips and tricks to make it easier for you to manage these new tools more efficiently and effectively within your practice.

Hilarious. Some guy made a videogame that just sums up life in advertising…for a creative.

We come up with great campaigns, but they doesn’t always happen.

Now it’s time to kill the Account Guy aka Client Service. Pretty funny. Don’t kill the cool-looking Art Director though,

Thanks to Shikha for posting, and Alex for tweesting (Posting after my tweet)

Enjoy and welcome to advertising.

Celebrating Accomplishments

In the fast-paced industry we live in, agencies and clients don’t have time to celebrate accomplishments.  We work hard, day after day, to make sure we meet deadlines, keep budgets under control and schedule meetings, without really stopping to pat ourselves or our clients on the back. 

One of the best ways to build relationships with clients is to make it a point to celebrate accomplishments great or small. Personal accomplishments in the client’s life, including birthdays, baby showers and promotions, should be acknowledged. At SJG, we recently threw our client a baby shower lunch that included a small present for the baby and mom. Our client was overwhelmed and extremely grateful. Clients don’t typically think that their agency will take the time to celebrate an accomplishment that means so much to them in their personal life but has no bearing on daily business.  

Business accomplishments should also be celebrated, such as advertising campaign launches and awards. Clients don’t typically get an opportunity to celebrate their work. Agency staff that works behind the scenes and contributes to a campaign’s development may not have an opportunity to see the outcome of their work. Therefore, getting agency staff from diverse areas (media, planning, research, production and creative) and the client in the same room for a toast to their coordinated efforts goes a long way in team building. 

Involving Them in the Creative Process

Our clients hire us to develop culturally relevant creative concepts.  Due to their tight calendars they are typically not involved in the creative development process.  Providing the client an opportunity to have a hand in the birth of a creative concept that then evolves into a successful advertising campaign provides fulfillment to the client, and in many times speeds up the approval process for the agency. 

Including clients in the process can be as simple as inviting them to internal agency creative kick-off meeting and pre-production meeting, and having them attend the TV shoot.  Our American Family Insurance client could not attend a recent TV shoot in Mexico due to her schedule, and was very disappointed. We took pictures, purchased small gifts from Mexico and packaged it all in a care box for our client.  It highlighted that even though she was not at the shoot, we were thinking of her. 

Wine and Dine Them

Remember the good old days of the advertising world?  Back when account service staff would take two hour lunches with the client?  Who says those days should be long gone?  Granted, we currently find ourselves in tough economic times. What this should mean for agencies is not to scale back your interaction with your clients.  On the contrary – during the race to the bottom to cut back ever-shrinking budgets, the only ammunition we have is building strong relationships. 

We hold quarterly lunches with all of our clients.  These lunches are used to get to know our clients on a personal level. We also have holiday parties that allow senior staff on the agency and client side to celebrate a year’s worth of work and talk about the upcoming year. 

Strong client relationships are what count when facing business obstacles. Yes, our clients hired our agency for our strategic Hispanic marketing expertise.  But our agency is made up of people and if our clients don’t love working with our people then our business relationship is bound to fail.  The account team’s goal is to be seen as our client’s trusted advisors, part of their team and nice people that they love to work with.

citez din mailul unui prost:
“[...]cafeaua calda e un must ptr client[...]“
da doamnelor si domnilor, cafeaua e un must. astfel, tabelul periodic al elementelor a fost invins si nu mai avem decat un pas pana la transformarea vinului in ceai, lutului in aur si painii in ciocolata.

Conversatie pe noul serviciu clienti TAXABIL cu 0,55 euro/min de la Orange:

Clienta: (printre hohote de plans): Va rog frumos, as vrea sa blochez o cartela SIM care tocmai mi-a fost furata

Operatoarea de la call center Orange: Vai doamna, dar nu trebuie sa va prefaceti in halul asta!

Clienta (stupefiata): Doamna dar nu ma prefac. Ati innebunit? Chiar mi-a fost furat telefonul!

Operatoarea de la call center Orange: Va inchid telefonul! Si apoi tonul si apeluri respinse.

Meditatii pe marginea conversatiei: Cand eu platesc peste pretul pietei un minut de convorbire presupun ca persoana pe care o puneti sa-mi preia cererile a fost controlata din punct de vedere psihologic si are niste abilitati de comunicare care sa justifice acel suprapret. In nici intr-un caz nu astept sa fiu trata cu sictir intr-o situatie delicata pentru mine si mai ales sa mi se inchida telefonul. Pentru asta pot sa ma duc la piata si sa ma iau la cearta cu o precupeata, ABSOLUT GRATUIT.

Facand un calcul de bun simt, sa vorbesti cu o astfel de doamna/domnisoara te costa 33 de euro pe ora, un pret care ti l-ar lua la o intrevedere un specialist cu pregatire temeinica gen doctor, psiholog sau coach. Si un astfel de specialist te-ar ajuta mult. In ce fel ma ajuta daca dau bani sa stau de vorba cu domnisoara? Imi blocheaza SIM-ul si imi zice cat am pe factura? Asta daca are chef si nu-mi da reject dupa ce m-a taxat. Greeeaaat!

Southfield-based Lawsuit Financial Corp. has launched an attorney referral service in all 50 states, according to a press release from the firm posted on dBusinessNews.

The company promises would-be plaintiffs up to three attorney recommendations within 24 hours of an inquiry.

Did you know your database is one of the most valuable assets you have as a business owner? Did you know some client databases sell for hundreds even thousands of dollars. What’s your database worth? Although you may not be interested in selling it, do you know what its value is to your business?

You should keep your database updated, sorted and periodically cleansed at least once per year. You can even establish a system to do this over a period of time so you don’t have to do it all at once. For example, contact a minimum of 5-10 people from your database per week. Depending on the size of your database, it will consistently be updated within a year’s time.

Jason Stewart talks about the value of databases on his Demandblog post “Your Biggest Untapped Marketing Asset?“ He states, the database is a significant asset that gets undervalued at most companies. Think about it: if your average cost per new contact is even just $20 (a low assumption) and you have a modest database of 250,000 contacts, then your house database is a $5 million asset. Do you treat it as such? How many other assets of that size do you have in your company? How much revenue does that asset generate for your business?

That’s an incredible number, isn’t it? Even if you only have 1,000 people in your database; at a $20 cost per contact that’s a $20,000 asset. Are you treating your database like the goldmine it is? How much time and attention are you putting into cultivating your database? By cultivating, we mean engaging each contact, separating your database into groups based on buying trends, industry, geographics, demographics and creating special marketing messages, promotions and updates just for that particular group; connecting and establishing real relationships. What’s the use and sense of constantly adding people to your database if you do nothing with them? How much goes into removing expired data and making sure the value of your existing database doesn’t deteriorate?

Get more from your database:

• Maintain information related to your clients’ needs. This could be as simple as storing information about your client (i.e. birthdays, children’s names, buying habits, interests, etc.). Keep information about their preferred method of communication – E-mail, direct mail, phone, or personal visits.
• Stay connected. Schedule time to personally touch each contact in your database with a personal call or personal note; especially on special occasions like birthdays, etc.
• Manage your contacts more effectively. Assign contacts to groups (i.e. leads/inquiries, past buyers, collaborators, referrals, where you met, etc). Grouping your contacts makes target marketing easier and ensures that your message is relevant.
• Plan and execute automated marketing campaigns. With a well-sorted and organized database, you can set-up auto-responders for hands-free communication with your clients.

Some additional food for thought about the value of your database is, when companies go out of business they actually sell their database as an asset. Do you think your competition would be willing to buy your database if you closed your doors? Is it even worth buying?

For those of you who have spent money buying leads, followers, etc. What about the existing databases of business contacts already in your database? Is there untapped revenue in your database? It just may be one of your greatest assets.

Submitted by A.Michelle Blakeley

Simplicity, Inc. |Because you don’t have time to waste.™ |866.927.5888 x1

Ask about our PROVEN Coaching and Mentoring Services.

Copyright Notice: Visitors to the Simplicity Mastered™ website may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material found on the website in any form without the express written consent of Simplicity, Inc.. For all requests for use of copyrighted material from the Simplicity Mastered™ website, please contact amichelleblakeley@yahoo.com

Acum cateva luni, mai exact in mai, am cumparat in laptop de la PC FUN. Laptop-ul, mai sensibil din fire, s-a stricat dupa doar cateva luni. “Okey, asta este, se mai intampla”, m-am gandit. “Voi suna la PC FUN si il voi trimite in service”. Am pus mana pe telefon si am sunat la client service. Aici, bineinteles, au inceput peripetiile.
O domnisoara draguta – nu am retinut numele, probabil pentru ca nu l-a spus – a raspuns la telefon si mi-a explicat in linii mari ce trebuie facut. Deocamdata nimic iesit din comun, dar … la intrebarea “Cat va dura evaluarea defectiunii?” dansa fost atat de prompta incat sa imi propuna sa sun singura la un alt service cu care ei lucreaza, pentru ca “prin noi o sa dureze cam mult” !?! – adica, arunci cu pietre in propiul business?! – urat …
Eu i-am explicat atunci ca as prefera – din moment ce laptop-ul este inca in garantie – sa se ocupe ei de problemele lui pentru ca eu nu am nici timp, si nici normal nu mi se pare sa il caut pe “nenea” reparatorul.
Si mai prompta, operatoarea s-a oferit atunci sa se ocupe “personal” – aici nu e vorba de persoane, ci de firme!?! – de reparatia ustensilei respective, cu rugamintea ca eu – tot eu – sa revin cu un telefon peste cateva zile.
Pe parcursul intregii convorbiri telefonice, vocea ei era soptita, parca secretoasa, ma simteam ca si cand as da o mita sau as abuza de un serviciu pe care nu il merit / de care in mod normal nu ar trebui sa beneficiez.
Hello! Ati auzit de training pentru client service?! Am ras … nu m-am mai enervat pentru ca mi-am dat seama ca fac riduri … )