Proactively cultivating relationships is often an afterthought. We are just too busy trying to get through the workload directly in front of us. And, relationships are not what we DO in our businesses, right? Most firms are not in the “relationship business.” You are in the [INSERT your core offering] business. Simply spoken: We need sales, not more friends! STOP RIGHT … [Read more...]
Why is it so darn easy to say NO?
Oftentimes, there is more risk in customer service when the answer to our concerns is “yes.” Can you help me? Will you make an exception and do this for me just this once? Could you look into this issue I’m having? Being helpful comes with a price, and the price is more work. But what if the tables were turned and the risk was actually in saying “no.” How much better would … [Read more...]
Killing Your Competition with (Client) Kindness
Five Core Principles for Turning Clients and Prospects into Raving Fans Once upon a time customer service meant more than pressing 2 to wait (and wait and wait) for “the next available representative.” Companies valued those who bought their goods and services and went the proverbial extra mile to make them happy. Today we’re more likely to hear about a company that’s … [Read more...]
Why do clients really leave you? It may not be what you think…
Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing When a client is upset with you…when your spouse is angry at you…when your teenager is ranting about some way you’ve wronged her again… it very often is not what it appears to be. Yet, in our attempt to minimize conflict, we immediately react to the outburst and attempt to fix the problem they describe. But often, the … [Read more...]
The Business Case for Building a Flexible Work Culture- Part III
In the Part I and II of this series we talked about the opportunity to support our need for flexible work cultures with a solid business case. We outlined the fact that the majority of our employees require flexibility at some point in their careers. Research increasingly points to flexibility as one of the most important career considerations of staff, emerging leaders and … [Read more...]
Are Your Client Delight Efforts Misplaced?
I have spent many years speaking about the concept of creating an exceptional client experience. I even have the term, “Client Delight” trademarked because of the educational materials I have created around this topic. But recently, I read something in Harvard Business Review (July-Aug 2010) that made me change my thinking on this topic, quite drastically actually. The … [Read more...]
Giving thanks
After a long hiatus, and a few busy weeks, I am back to blogging! It’s amazing how time flies and we don’t realize that we haven’t seen our friends in a few weeks, haven’t gone to the gym in a while, or haven’t had a decent meal to eat because of our busy schedules. One other thing we forget to do is to say "thank you" to our fellow colleagues or people who help us along … [Read more...]
Are You a Problem Solver or a Problem Blamer?
I fly a decent amount and have had a lot of good and a lot of bad experiences with the airlines. The biggest issue I have with the airlines, especially my carrier of choice, is not that they make mistakes. I don’t expect any business to be perfect. At issue is how they deal with problems. Too often, their first reaction is to put the problem back with me. The protocol seems to … [Read more...]
7 Easy Ways to Retain Customers
Guest post by Michelle Strassburg (learn more about Michelle at the end of this post) Winning new customers is often easier than keeping them. Not too dissimilar from other types of relationship business or personal you must work hard on the relationship to make sure the other party is content. When it comes to retaining customers, keeping the other party content will directly … [Read more...]
The Marketing Mix Made Easy to Understand and Use
While creating your annual marketing plan, using a combination of elements (4 from the marketing mix) is the key to success. The marketing mix contains four elements. The combination of the four elements is used to satisfy consumer needs and company goals, stimulate consumer interest, and generate sales. 1. Product/Service - what are you trying to sell? 2. Price - … [Read more...]