7 Steps to Complete Client Delight
Guest Post by Kim Fredrich, Sales for Non-Salespeople
Clients purchase from you with the expectation that you’ll deliver what you’ve promised.
Sounds like a solid way to run a business.
What happens when you delight your customer?
When you:
- Really, truly listen to your client’s needs
- Make it easy to buy from you
- Exceed expectations throughout the engagement
- Make any wrongs right
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Anticipate client needs before they are articulated?
There are some of us old enough to remember when service providers dictated how service was provided. When we worked our schedule around the convenience of the service provider or we expected to remain on hold for hours just to get a resolution to a problem.
In our highly competitive, social media driven world, this is no longer acceptable. And frankly, that’s a good thing! Now, any company that doesn’t at least meet expectations won’t survive long.
So how does a company thrive and grow?
By always making it about the client.
Really, truly serving the client.
Isn’t that customer service? What does this have to do with sales? And me?
Every encounter clients and potential clients have with your organization is part of your sales effort. We’re all in sales.
So let’s get selling, I mean serving!
How to Delight your Clients
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Consider how YOU would like to be treated.
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Take yourself on a client journey – begin with a visit to your website, make contact with your organization, engage your company and experience your service first-hand.
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Ask clients for feedback consistently and regularly. Apply what you’ve learned.
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Listen and validate.
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Empower team members to seek out and deliver extra value to individual clients. Help your clients wherever possible.
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Empower team members to right any wrongs.
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Actively seek ways to delight clients throughout their customer journey.
Think like a small business owner.
Does the shopkeeper close the door to a customer who wants to make a purchase at closing time? No, he stays open. And the client rewards him with this sale, future sales and word of mouth advertising. Reciprocity and appreciation are worth many times more than the original sale.
The fast track to spectacular growth is an entire organization 100% focused on exceeding client expectations. Yes, it may cost a little more initially, but that sacrifice for short term profit is worth it in the long term.
When you actively create customer advocates acquisition costs plummet and profit rises.
Remember, service is sales and sales is service.
The continuum of sales and service is becoming increasingly circular – those who embrace it will succeed. Those who don’t will fail.
